Replicated item level factor analysis of the full MMPI.

Abstract

We completed a comprehensive factor analysis of the full MMPI item pool by using recent advances in computational facilities. Nearly 20,000 MMPI protocols were collected for the analysis, however, we discarded invalid records and protocols with more than 50 missing items. Analyses were computed on a developmental sample of 5,506 subjects and a cross-validation sample of 5,632. Twenty-one replicated factors were found by using an orthogonal varimax solution. The rotated factors were submitted to several experts on MMPI for factor naming. The consensus obtained on the item factors suggests that this analysis provides an unambiguous picture of the major content dimensions in the MMPI item pool.