Assessing posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI-2 in a sample of workplace accident victims

In this study, the predictive capacity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Persona lity Inventory-2 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Keane (MMPI-2 PK) scale was examined in a sample of trauma victims who experienced a serious workplace- related accident and subsequent injury. In keeping with a number of previou s investigations, the PK scale was largely ineffective in identifying postt raumatic stress disorder (PTSD) beyond overall symptom and functional sever ity. In contrast, sets of clinical and content scales proved to be signific ant predictors of PTSD. These findings suggest that the PK scale is not par ticularly useful in detecting PTSD in civilian trauma samples. Clinicians m ight be best advised to use the MMPI-2 clinical and content scales in their assessment of PTSD in civilian patients presenting with a history of traum a.