ISSUES IN THE ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY-DISORDER AND SUBSTANCE-ABUSE USING THE MILLON CLINICAL MULTIAXIAL INVENTORY (MCMI-II)

Substance abuse treatment clients often present other severe mental he alth problems that affect treatment outcomes. Hence, screening and ass essment for psychological distress and personality disorder are an imp ortant part of effective treatment, discharge, and aftercare planning. The Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) frequently is used for this purpose. In this paper, several issues of concern to MCM I-II users are addressed. These include the extent to which MCMI-II sc ales correspond to DSM-III-R disorders; overdiagnosis of disorders usi ng the MCMI-II; accuracy of MCMI-II diagnostic cut-off scores; and the clinical utility of MCMI-II diagnostic algorithms. Approaches to addr essing these issues are offered.