Exploring the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-3 in a Transgender and Gender Diverse Sample

• Published in: Psychological assessment Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Bryant, William T., Livingston, Nicholas A., McNulty, John L., Choate, Kurt T., Santa Ana, Elizabeth J., Ben-Porath, Yossef S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Cisgender; Female; Gender Nonconforming; Health Disparities; Human; Humans; Male; Medical screening; Mental Health; Mental health care; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; MMPI; Outpatient; Personality Measures; Personality tests; Psychological tests; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Transgender Persons; United States > US; Minnesota; assessment; health disparities; personality; transgender; gender diversity
• ISSN: 1040-3590; 1939-134X
• DOI: 10.1037/pas0001287

Comparisons of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals' mental health functioning with that of cisgender individuals rely almost exclusively on screening measures. The limited research with TGD individuals and omnibus assessment measures has primarily used previous iterations of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories (MMPIs). This study sought to examine the psychometric functioning of the MMPI-3 with a TGD community sample (n = 97) and compare mean scores across TGD and cisgender subsamples. We expected MMPI-3 substantive scale reliability to be comparable across all samples and subsamples. Individual MMPI-3 scales were expected to demonstrate appropriate convergent and discriminant validity with relevant criterion measures in the TGD sample. Results generally supported MMPI-3 scale score reliability and validity with TGD individuals. Next, three sets of mean score comparisons were conducted across all MMPI-3 substantive scales: (a) TGD individuals not currently in mental health treatment and the MMPI-3 normative sample, (b) TGD individuals not currently in mental health treatment and TGD individuals currently in mental health treatment, and (c) TGD individuals currently in mental health treatment and an outpatient mental health sample. Fewer differences were found between TGD individuals in our sample who were not currently in mental health treatment and the MMPI-3 normative sample compared to previous work. This initial study indicates that MMPI-3 scales largely have appropriate psychometric properties when administered to a TGD sample and that the test may be helpful in identifying mental health needs of TGD individuals. Needs and directions for further research are discussed.
Public Significance Statement
This study found a broad measure of mental health functioning can be used to identify important areas of mental health needs for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. This is crucial for clinicians, health care organizations, and policy makers in calling attention to and addressing TGD mental health disparities at the individual and community levels.