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. 2025 Jul 21.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06971-0. Online ahead of print.

The Assessment of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Profile of Young Adults with Specific Learning Disorders: A Network Analysis Approach

Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh  1
Affiliations

The Assessment of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Profile of Young Adults with Specific Learning Disorders: A Network Analysis Approach

Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh. J Autism Dev Disord. .

Abstract

Specific learning disorders (SLD) affect 3-17% of the world's population and are associated with significant academic, emotional, and social challenges. This study compared Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) profiles and symptom networks between young adults with SLD and healthy controls. A total of 177 individuals with SLD (including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or combinations thereof) and 200 age-matched controls from Saudi Arabia completed the MMPI-2-RF. Scale scores were compared using independent-samples t-tests, and network analysis was employed to identify central and bridging symptoms. All analyses were conducted in RStudio. Compared with controls, the SLD group scored significantly higher on demoralization (M = 47.0 vs. 44.6), somatic complaints ( M = 47.4 vs. 45.5), dysfunctional negative emotions (M = 41.8 vs. 39.8), and thought dysfunction (M = 52.3 vs. 50.1). In the symptom network, low positive emotions strength = 1.23) and dysfunctional negative emotions (strength = 1.12) emerged as the most central nodes, with strong connections to cynicism (edge = 0.16) and demoralization (edge = 0.22). A negative edge linked ideas of persecution to aberrant experiences (edge = - 0.10). Among personality psychopathology five-revised scales, introversion/low positive emotionality-revised (strength = 0.95) and negative emotionality/neuroticism-revised (strength = 0.89) were most central and were strongly interrelated (edge = 0.28). These findings suggest that targeting core symptoms-such as low positive emotions and introversion-may disrupt maladaptive symptom networks and improve outcomes for individuals with SLD. Clinicians may enhance treatment effectiveness by focusing on these central features.

Keywords: Neuroticism; Personality; Psychological sistress; Specific learning disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Ethical approval: The current study avoids the need for publication consent by not sharing private information, carrying out experiments, or working with sensitive data. Also, all methods followed relevant guidelines and regulations or the Declaration of Helsinki 1964. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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