Mental Health Professionals' Skepticism About Multiple Personality Disorder

Jeffrey A. Hayes, Jeffrey C. Mitchell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three studies were conducted to investigate the nature of mental health professionals' skepticism regarding multiple personality disorder (MPD). An initial pilot study was conducted to develop a psychometrically sound survey instrument. In Study 2, the results of a national survey of 207 mental health professionals supported the hypothesis that skepticism and knowledge about MPD are inversely related, r = -.33, p < .01, although the strength of this relationship varied among professions. Moderate to extreme skepticism was expressed by 24% of the sample. Results from Study 3 supported the hypotheses that MPD is diagnosed with less accuracy than is schizophrenia and that misdiagnosis of MPD is predicted by skepticism about MPD. Findings are related to literature pertaining to mental health professionals' skepticism about MPD and consequential effects on treatment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)410-415
Number of pages6
JournalProfessional Psychology: Research and Practice
Volume25
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1994

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Psychology

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