Dexamethasone suppression test and MMPI scales

In 42 major depressive inpatients, we analyzed the relationship between dexamethasone suppression test (DST) results and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales. Cortisol levels following DST were positively correlated with the depression as well as the social introversion MMPI scale scores, and negatively correlated with the hypomania scale scores. DST nonsuppressor depressives (n = 15) exhibited significantly higher scores on the social introversion scale and significantly lower scores on the hypomania subscale than DST suppressors (n = 27). Moreover, stepwise discriminant analysis using the hypomania score was able to correctly classify 71% of the sample according to DST dichotomy, whereas the association of other scales did not significantly improve the classification. Therefore, these results support a relationship between DST and depressive/manic psychopathology rather than anxious psychopathology.