The effect of narcissistic, dependent, compulsive, and antisocial personality traits on treatment outcome for Axis I symptoms

The relationship between Narcissistic, Compulsive, Dependent, and Antisocial personality traits, as measured by the MCMI-III, and the clinical presentation and treatment outcome for Axis I symptoms, as measured by the MMPI-2 was investigated. The subjects were 86 Roman Catholic priests and nuns who participated in six to eight months of residential treatment. Pre-treatment evaluation of the patients included the MCMI-III and the MMPI-2. Clinical presentation of Axis I disorders was measured by pre-treatment scores on MMPI-2 scales 2 (Depression), 7 (Psychasthenia), content scale DEP (Depression), and content scale ANX (Anxiety). Treatment outcome was measured by the post-treatment MMPI-2 scores on these four variables. The mean post-treatment scores on the four MMPI-2 variables were significantly lower than the mean pretreatment scores. MCMI-III scores on Narcissistic were found to account partly for the variance in pre-treatment MMPI-2 scores on Scales 2 and 7. Narcissism and Compulsive personality scale scores were found to account partly for the variance on Content Scale DEP, and Dependent scale scores were found to account partly for the variance on Content Scale ANX. The forty-eight patients with MCMI-III BR scores above 74 had significantly higher pre-treatment MMPI-2 scores than the patients with lower MCMI-III scores. There were no other differences found between these two groups. Narcissism was found to account partly for the variance of MMPI-2 change scores on the MMPI-2 scale 2. These results are inconsistent with previous studies that concluded that personality dysfunction has an adverse impact on treatment outcome for Axis I disorders. The intensive individual and group therapy, extended length of stay, and emphasis on community living that the residential program provides may account for these results.