ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND PERSONALITY WITH THE MMPI-2 IN PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL USE DISORDER (AUD): SHOULD WE NOT CORRECT FOR ASSOCIATED COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTIONS?

Objective: treatment planning for patients with Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is often preceded by the assessment of psychopathology and personality with the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI-2). however, in the acute phase of abstinence, both physical and cognitive problems can cause temporary elevations on multiple clinical scales of the MMPI-2 resulting in inadequate interpretation and treatment planning. over the past years, several correction procedures were developed to correct for these problems in different neurological disorders, but until this date, there are no published data available on correction procedures for AUD patients. Method: extensive literature search in Pubmed, Medline, and Psychinfo for the period from 1975 through 2011 resulted in thirty-five studies on MMPI (-2) correction procedures typically developed for neurological patient groups. Results: Review of the literature demonstrates that, given the similarity of cognitive deficits in patients with AUD and in those with traumatic Brain injury (TBI), the use of an MMPI-2 neurocorrective procedure may be helpful to avoid over-interpretation of psychopathology and personality profiles during the acute phase of abstinence and to formulate more adequate treatment planning. Conclusions: further empirical research should focus on the development and validation of such a neurocorrective procedure, that specifically addresses the alcohol-induced cognitive symptoms during the acute phase of withdrawal.