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Diagnostic validity of millon clinical multiaxial inventory-IV (MCMI-IV)

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Abstract

The Millon clinical multiaxial inventory fourth version (MCMI-IV) is a self-report assessment tool intended to provide information on personality disorders. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic validity of this tool. Participants with recent diagnosis of psychiatric disorders were included in the study. They were interviewed using structured clinical interview for diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-5 (SCID-5) and MCMI-IV. The results showed that the Kappa agreement between the MCMI-IV and SCID-5 ranged between 0.23 to 0.39. The discriminant function analysis was conducted to predict personality clusters and other psychiatric disorders. Schizoid and cluster B personality including antisocial, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders were predicted by the MCMI-IV scales. Axis I disorders including major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, bipolar mood disorder, and substance use were also predicted by this assessment tool. MCMI-IV scales were, however, not the predictor of other personality and Axis I psychiatric disorders. Sensitivity (23.08% in somatic symptom to 66.7% in drug and alcohol use), specificity (72.52% in generalized anxiety disorder or GAD to 95.61% schizophrenic spectrum), positive predictive probability (PPP) (6.67% in post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD to 57.35% in cluster B personality) and negative predictor probability (NPP) (80.81% in GAD to 98.15% in PTSD) were estimated. Overall the validity indexes of MCMI-IV improved compared to the previous version of MCMI but these findings suggested that the diagnostic validity of MCMI-IV was not yet acceptable in some clinical scales and further improvements are needed.

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Data Availability

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The study was granted and approved by Psychiatry and Psychology Research (Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran). We appreciate all the cooperation of this research center. We also have a special thanks to Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital that facilitates conducting research.

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Authors

Contributions

Study conceptualization: Zahra Hooshyari, Mohammad Reza Mohammadi, Ali Delavar.

Study Design: Zahra Hooshyari, Ali Delavar

Data Collection: Abolfazl Mohammadi, Imaneh Abasi, Mona Salehi, Mohammad Reza Mohammadi

Data Preparation: Zahra Hooshyari, Ali Delavar

Data Analysis: Zahra Hooshyari

Report Writing: Zahra Hooshyari, Mann Amanat

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zahra Hooshyari.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures of the current study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later revision. The participants were informed that participation was optional. All patients were assured that their information would remain confidential and would be used just for research purposes. Written informed consent was obtained from all individuals. The ethics committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences reviewed and approved the final protocol of the study (IR.TUMS.VCR.REC.1396.3735).

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“Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.”

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Mohammadi, M.R., Hooshyari, Z., Delavar, A. et al. Diagnostic validity of millon clinical multiaxial inventory-IV (MCMI-IV). Curr Psychol 42, 18052–18060 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02972-9

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