THE USE OF THE MMPI IN IDENTIFYING PROBLEM DRINKERS AMONG PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS.

This article provides data on the validity of the scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to identify alcoholics, in differentiating psychiatric hospital admissions with alcoholic problems from those admissions without alcoholic problems. The sample included all testable patients admitted to a Veterans Administration neuropsychiatric hospital during a six month period. The criteria of problem drinking, against which the psychometric classification was compared. The mean of the alcoholic group was not significantly different from that of the nonalcoholic group on any of the three alcoholism scales. A second comparison between alcoholics and nonalcoholics using more stringent criteria of alcoholism, that is requiring all three indicators to be present, resulted in significant mean differences on two of the three scales.