Prospective Comparison of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and MMPI-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) in Predicting Treatment Outcomes Among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relative utility of the most updated MMPI adult instrument, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), which was designed to address psychometric limitations of the MMPI-2. To this end, we compared mean scores and correlates of emotional distress treatment outcomes using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in a sample of 230 patients (73 males, 157 females) who had completed an interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that higher scale scores from all the MMPI-2-RF substantive domains were meaningfully associated with worse emotional distress outcomes, whereas the MMPI-2 Clinical Scales generally did not have any meaningful associations. Similar results were found in additional analyses using a clinically significant change framework with more direct clinical implications. The results of this study provide preliminary support for the use of the MMPI-2-RF among patients with chronic low back pain.