Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire profiles of veterans with traumatic combat exposure: externalizing and internalizing subtypes

Psychol Assess. 2003 Jun;15(2):205-15. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.15.2.205.

Abstract

This study used the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, in press) to identify personality-based subtypes of posttraumatic response. Cluster analyses of MPQs completed by combat veterans revealed subgroups that differed on measures relating to the externalization versus internalization of distress. The MPQ profile of the externalizing cluster was defined by low Constraint and Harmavoidance coupled with high Alienation and Aggression. Individuals in this cluster also had histories of delinquency and high rates of substance-related disorder. In comparison, the MPQ profile of the internalizing cluster was characterized by lower Positive Emotionality, Alienation, and Aggression and higher Constraint, and individuals in this cluster showed high rates of depressive disorder. These findings suggest that dispositions toward externalizing versus internalizing psychopathology may account for heterogeneity in the expression of posttraumatic responses, including patterns of comorbidity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Humans
  • MMPI*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Personality Disorders / epidemiology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology*
  • Veterans / psychology*