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.
Young adults with SLD present high distress with low positive emotions and introversion at the core—screen and treat these first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Khasawneh (2025) gave the MMPI-2-RF to young adults with specific learning disorders.
The team used network analysis to see which distress symptoms connect most tightly.
What they found
The group showed high distress across most MMPI-2-RF scales.
Low positive emotions and introversion sat at the center of the symptom web.
How this fits with other research
Williams et al. (2023) found the same population benefits when you boost self-concept, extending the idea that internal states matter.
Scior et al. (2023) saw Danish adolescents with developmental language disorder report high life satisfaction—an apparent contradiction. The difference is diagnosis: language disorder versus learning disorder, and age: teens versus young adults.
Wieland et al. (2016) used a different tool, the Brief Symptom Inventory, in young adults with borderline intellectual functioning and also saw unique distress patterns, backing the need for profile-based assessment.
Why it matters
Expect elevated distress in young adults with SLD. Start your intake by asking about low mood and social withdrawal. Target positive-emotion skills and peer interaction first; these nodes may loosen the rest of the symptom net.
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02At a glance
03Original 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.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1080/13854046.2011.554444