The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in predicting response to pharmacotherapy of neurotic outpatients.

The utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in predicting treatment response to pharmacotherapy for a group of 54 anxious and 43 depressed outpatients was examined. Discriminant function analyses using the MMPI scales were conducted on groups of improved and unimproved patients. Several significant function, as well as zero-order, differences were found. In general, improved patients scored significantly lower on scales reflecting depression and obsessive-compulsive or schizoid tendencies. They also obtained lower scores on scales measuring interpersonal sensitivity and suggestive of character traits such as low frustration tolerance, impulsivity, and resentment toward authority figures. Additional analyses in which several different profile types were compared for treatment outcome revealed few differences among groups.