The adequacy of the MMPI-2 Harris-Lingoes subscales: A cross-cultural factor analytic study of scales D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Sc, and Ma

The authors investigated cross-culturally the factor structure of Scales D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Sc, and Ma of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (S. R. Hathaway & J. C. McKinley, 1989) to examine the adequacy of the Harris-Lingoes (HL) subscales developed for these scales. A combined sample of 1,896 Israeli outpatients and inpatients and a sample of 1,020 American outpatients were used. Each scale was factor analyzed separately in the Israeli and U.S. samples and, within each sample, by gender. The results did not support the structural adequacy of the HL subscales for Scales D, Pd, Sc, and Ma but generally supported their suitability for Scales Hy and Pa. In addition, the results also suggested that all clinical scales share a common element of general distress akin to A. Tellegen's (1985) negative affectivity. These findings highlight the need for developing and validating a new set of subscales for most of the clinical scales, using external measures of relevant clinical and personality domains for which the current scales may serve as a basis.