Diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI: PK scale scores in somatization disorder

Clinic patients with diagnoses of either major depression or somatization d isorder were given the MMPI. Women with somatization disorder had high scor es on Keane's MMPI scale (PK) for posttraumatic stress disorder. Following the procedure for the MMPI-2 (46 of the 49 PK items and MMPI-2 norms), 59% of the women with somatization disorder and 21% of the women with major dep ression would have T scores greater than or equal to 65 on the MMPI-2 scale although none of them were known to have developed psychiatric disorder af ter exposure to a life threatening event. The PK scale has little use in th e differential diagnosis of women patients with somatization disorder.