Manifest Anxiety-Defensiveness Scale: First Factor of the MMPI Revisited

Abstract

A 63-item form for men and 59-item form for women of the Manifest Anxiety-Defensiveness ( MAD) scale resulted from three separate item analyses performed on a 243-item composite scale obtained by pooling 10 scales purported to reflect anxiety and defense. A factor analysis of these 11 scales yielded two clearly identifiable factors, with the MAD scale defining the first factor. The MAD scale was shown to possess very high reliability and several studies considering normal and psychiatric samples indicated satisfactory validity. Substantive and stylistic interpretations of the MAD scale were discussed in terms of the first factor of the MMPI. It was concluded that the MAD scale best reflects a bipolar dimension of anxiety and defense.

Perception of breast cancer risk and psychological distress in women attending a surveillance program

“…Correlations between the symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R and the BSI based on almost 600 psychiatric patients ranged from 0.92 to 0.99. A high degree of convergent validity with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) (Millimet, 1970) was found. Another study demonstrated that the SCL-90-R had high utility as a screening inventory in oncology patients.…”

Support for a Maladjustment Interpretation of the Anxiety-Defensiveness Dimension

“…Although Byrne (1964) has questioned the meaning of the high positive correlation between the Repression-Sensitization ( R S ) Scale (Byrne, 1961)and scales measuring anxiety, Millimet (1970) suggests that anxiety and defense are inversely related bipolar variables reflecting a unitary dimension of personality. The latter position is consistent with the findings of Cleser and Ihilevich (1969) who reported correlations of .96 and .97 between the R-S scale and the Welsh (1956) Anxiety ( A ) Scale, and Colin, Herron, Lakota, and Reineck (1967) and Sullivan and Roberts (1969) who found correlations of 3 7 and .91, respectively, between the R-S scale and the Taylor (1953) Manifest Anxiety (MA) Scale.…”

“…Several studies performed by Millimet (1970) suggest that the MAD scale may be useful in measuring a motivational (anxiety) and a habit (defensiveness) component of personality. Furthermore, Millimet (1970) reported several correlations between the MAD scale and the A (.95 and .96) and M A (.92 and .92) scales which strongly indicate that these scales and the Psychasthenia (Pf) scale (rs = .93 and .94 with MAD scale) of the MMPI are measuring an identical dimension of personality, a dimension consistent with the first factor of the MMPI.…”

“…The Manifest Anxiety-Defensiveness (MAD) Scale was devised to reflect a dimension of personality indicating low anxiety and successful or high avoidance defenses against real or potential threat to self-esteem (LA-HA VD) at one pole and high anxiety and unsuccessful or low avoidance defenses against real or potential threat to self-esteem (HA-LAVD) at the other pole (Millimet, 1970). Several studies performed by Millimet (1970) suggest that the MAD scale may be useful in measuring a motivational (anxiety) and a habit (defensiveness) component of personality.…”

Ego defences and affects in women with breast symptoms: A preliminary measurement paradigm

“…High scores on the MAD Scale are supposed to be related to the use of defences such as intellectualization (Millimet, 1970) as well as high anxiety. However, in the present study we were attempting to observe the defences used to cope with the anxiety associated with a specific crisis and not the interaction of 'trait' anxiety and patient's characteristic defensive styles.…”