Mental Health Assessment and Diagnosis — Personality Assessments
There are no blood tests or scans that can give a clear-cut diagnosis for mental health conditions. Instead, mental health diagnoses require an understanding of psychology, behaviors, emotions, and patterns, many of which go unnoticed in everyday life.
What’s more, people often don’t realize they’re struggling with certain symptoms until someone asks the right questions and gives them the space to reflect. Personality assessments do just that, hence they are an important aspect of mental health care.
On this page, we talk about why personality tests are used in mental health assessments, the different types of assessments, what you should expect during the testing process, and how to access these assessments.
What Is a Clinical Personality Assessment?
A clinical personality assessment is a structured process psychologists use to understand how you think, feel, behave, and relate to others. It’s not like a “Which Hogwarts house are you?” quiz, and it’s not therapy itself. It’s a professional deep-dive into your patterns to reach diagnoses, plan out treatment, or predict how you will respond to different forms of help.
Now, why is a clinical assessment different from a regular personality test online? Because it’s scientifically validated, interpreted by a trained clinician, and linked to actual clinical outcomes. Online quizzes, in contrast, are usually made for entertainment or act as very basic screening tools.
The Role of Personality in Mental Health Diagnosis
A person with a high neuroticism score is more likely to develop anxiety-related disorders when faced with difficult circumstances. Interestingly, a research study found a significant positive relationship between neuroticism and anxiety disorders during the COVID-19 outbreak.1
Now, does this mean neuroticism causes anxiety disorders? No, but it does make a person more vulnerable to them. Similarly, certain other personality traits either increase or decrease the risk of developing mental health issues.
The role of personality testing for mental health doesn’t stop at diagnoses. It also extends to treatment outcomes. People’s personality traits impact how well they respond to certain therapies. For example, research finds that extraversion, which includes outgoing and expressive behavioral patterns, is negatively related to compliance with antidepressant medicines.2
Main Uses of Personality Assessments in Mental Health
In real clinical settings, personality assessments serve much deeper, more important purposes than just figuring out what type of person you are. These include:
1. Identifying and Diagnosing Personality Disorders
You might have heard of mental health conditions like borderline disorder, narcissistic disorder, avoidant personality disorder, or schizoid or schizotypal personality disorder. These are all examples of personality disorders, and they are never diagnosed based on a quick conversation.
Personality disorder evaluation and diagnosis are based on long-term, deeply rooted patterns of thinking, feeling, and relating to others that create major difficulties in daily life. The purpose of detailed personality assessment tests is to dig into such problematic core traits. Long-term fear of abandonment, distrust of others, grandiosity (meaning a sense of superiority), emotional instability, or intense self-criticism are examples of some traits that define different personality disorders.
Without a personality traits assessment, it would be difficult to determine if someone is struggling with an underlying personality disorder versus a mood disorder or a temporary stress reaction. So, these tests are a vital part of identifying what’s going on and finding effective treatment approaches to help you cope.
2. Evaluating Therapy Outcomes
Therapy is often an invisible process. You talk and work through your emotions in the hope that things change over time. But how do you know if therapy is truly making a difference?
A reassessment helps clinicians understand your progress. After an initial baseline assessment, you can repeat the same test months later to measure changes in emotional regulation, interpersonal style, and coping patterns. Such structured feedback is extremely validating for people undergoing therapy. It’s one thing to feel like you’re improving; it’s another to see it reflected in objective test results.
3. Testing Theories and Adding to Research
Researchers use structured personality assessment test results to gather large amounts of information about different groups of people. Without standardized, validated assessments, much of modern psychology simply wouldn’t exist. The concrete, reliable data from real-world patient assessments backs up new treatment approaches and changes to major diagnostic manuals like the DSM-5.3
People directly benefit from such scientific study because the therapies and medications that exist today are built on the solid ground of research.
Common Tools Used in Personality Testing
There are dozens of personality tests in clinical use today. Let’s check out the most popular ones.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI, is one of the most widely used tools in the world for understanding mental health. It was originally developed in the late 1930s and first published in 1943, and has since been updated multiple times.4
The most commonly used version today, the MMPI-2, contains 567 true-or-false questions. There’s also a newer, shorter version called the MMPI-2-RF, which has 338 questions. Both versions explore various psychological themes, such as anxiety, depression, anger, social introversion, and psychotic symptoms.
The MMPI includes several clinical scales like Depression (Scale 2), Paranoia (Scale 6), and Schizophrenia (Scale 8). It also has validity scales that detect if someone is not answering honestly, exaggerating, minimizing issues, or randomly guessing.
The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)
Neuroticism- Extraversion
- Openness to experience
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
The original NEO-PI had 181 items, but over time it evolved into updated versions like the NEO-PI-R (Revised) and the NEO-PI-3, better suited for younger people and those with lower reading levels.
PHQ-9 and GAD-7
These symptoms include:
Low mood- Lack of interest or pleasure in activities
- Trouble sleeping
- Changes in appetite
- Low energy
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Trouble concentrating
- Moving or speaking noticeably slower (or feeling unusually restless)
- Thoughts of death or self-harm
Similarly, GAD-7 is short for Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and it measures seven core anxiety symptoms, which include:7
Feeling nervous or on edge- Being unable to stop worrying
- Struggling to relax
- Feeling restless
- Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
- Fearing that something awful might happen
Both these questionnaires ask you to rate how often you experienced each symptom over the past two weeks. The options are:
Not at all- Several days
- More than half the days
- Nearly every day
What To Expect in the Personality Assessment Process
The process of a personality assessment for mental health starts with a clinical interview. It is simply a conversation where your provider gathers background information about you, your life story, your symptoms, your relationships, your work, and your coping strategies.
After the interview, you’ll move to the testing phase. The actual experience of taking the tests is pretty straightforward. Some tests, like MMPI or NEO-PI, are quite long, so plan on setting aside 1–3 hours. Some people find these mentally tiring too. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are quick assessments that hardly take five minutes. Your testing environment should be quiet and private, regardless of where you take the test, whether in an office or through a secure online platform.
It’s also recommended to answer all questions honestly, even if some feel uncomfortable or you’re not sure what the “right” answer is. In fact, there are no “right” or “wrong” answers on these assessments.
If you attempt to “beat the test”, for example, by trying to sound healthier, happier, tougher, or more together than you feel, it will hurt you in the long run. Some tests also have built-in measures to detect dishonest answers, and when that happens, the results can’t be used reliably, and you might have to take the test again.
Once you’ve finished the assessment, your clinician will score and interpret it. Your answers aren’t looked at in isolation; your therapist combines them with what you discussed during your interview and considers your personal circumstances. For example, it is normal for anxiety scores to spike when a person is going through a personal loss, say a divorce. A good clinician takes context into account rather than rushing to conclusions.
After a thorough review, you’ll have a feedback session in which the clinician will sit down with you and explain the results in clear, simple terms. They’ll explain whether the results support a specific diagnosis and, more importantly, how the information can contribute to your treatment.
If there’s one thing to keep in mind throughout this whole process, it’s that your honesty and openness are the keys to getting the most helpful results.
Where To Find Personality Testing Services
You can take a personality assessment at mental health hospitals, private therapy offices, or registered online platforms. At Mission Connection, for example, we offer a range of mental health assessments, all of which are well-validated, research-backed tools that real clinicians use every day.
All our assessments are short; you can attempt them in less than five minutes online and get instant results without having to wait weeks for an appointment. We offer the following set of assessments:
- Depression test (PHQ-9)
- Anxiety test (GAD-7)
- Relationship assessment scale
- Self-esteem test
- Mindset test
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) test
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) test
What makes Mission Connection’s services particularly patient-friendly is that we don’t just leave you with a score and a “good luck” message. We connect you with a certified professional to discuss your results in a supportive, no-pressure environment.
Psychological Testing At Mission Connection
If you’re not sure whether you’re ready for full therapy or just want to check in on your mental health, a psychological personality test is a zero-risk, judgment-free first step.
Mission Connection offers personality assessment while maintaining high standards for privacy and quality. All of our assessments are free, confidential, and accessible at your convenience.
We are HIPAA-compliant and accredited by trusted organizations like the Joint Commission, the California Department of Healthcare Services, and the National Association for Healthcare Quality.
Take an assessment at Mission Connection today and rediscover yourself.
References
- Khishigsuren Zuunnast, Enkhtuvshin Regzedmaa, Mandukhai Ganbat, Munkhzul Sambuunyam, Solongo Tsogoo, Otgonbayar Radnaa, & Nasantsengel Lkhagvasuren. (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of neuroticism and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1281268
- Cohen, N. L., Ross, E. C., Bagby, R. M., Farvolden, P., & Kennedy, S. H. (2004). The 5-Factor Model of Personality and Antidepressant Medication Compliance. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49(2), 106–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370404900205
- APA. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5-TR). Psychiatry.org; American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm
- Floyd, A. E., & Gupta, V. (2023). Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557525/
- Russin, S., Elleman, L., & Condon, D. (2017, September 29). SAPA Project | The NEO Personality InventoryTM (NEO-PI-RTM). Www.sapa-Project.org. https://www.sapa-project.org/blogs/NEOmodel.html
- Spitzer, R., Williams, J., & Kroenke, K. (1999). PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE-9 (PHQ-9). https://www.apa.org/depression-guideline/patient-health-questionnaire.pdf
- Spitzer, R. (1999). GAD-7 Anxiety. In Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Anxiety and Depression Association of America. https://adaa.org/sites/default/files/GAD-7_Anxiety-updated_0.pdf
