Neurocognitive parameters should be incorporated in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 assessment of patients with alcohol use disorders.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS

Treatment planning for alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients is often preceded by the assessment of psychopathology and personality with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). However, during periods of abstinence, cognitive impairments (e.g. attention, memory and executive dysfunctions) related to neurological and somatic pathology may affect level and pattern of MMPI-2 scale scores, resulting in clinical misinterpretation.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A re-analysis of the data of the Egger et al. study is conducted in order to examine the clinical significance of the MMPI-2 profiles of 222 AUD patients (mean age 42.2 ± 9.6 years; 76.6% men) by using neurologically relevant item correction procedures. Hierarchical cluster analyses of neurologically relevant item-corrected solutions were compared to the original MMPI-2 profile.

RESULTS

Impulsiveness and psychopathic deviation were identified as a common denominator.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Uncorrected MMPI-2 assessment in AUD tends to overstress psychopathology and to overlook disinhibitory traits in early abstinence, caused by chronic alcoholism.