This chapter provides an overview of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) from an applied perspective. We start with a discussion of general issues and applications, including definitions of EFA and the underlying common factors model. We briefly cover history and general applications. The most substantive part of the chapter focuses on six steps of EFA. More specifically, we consider variable (or indicator) selection (Step 1), computing the variance–covariance matrix (Step 2), factor-extraction methods (Step 3), factor-retention procedures (Step 4), factor-rotation methods (Step 5), and interpretation (Step 6). We include a data analysis example throughout (with example code for R), with full details in an online supplement. We hope the chapter will provide helpful guidance to applied researchers in the social and behavioral sciences.

This is a commentary on Miller and Widiger’s (this volume) excellent chapter on personality disorders from the perspective of five factor personality models. In this commentary, the author discusses several issues of importance as the field moves forward with respect to dimensional personality-based diagnosis of personality disorder, most of which center on clinical application. First, a question is posed as to what level of personality abstraction is necessary for optimal formulation of personality disorders; although most five-factor models are established at the domain level, proposed personality disorder trait profiles appear at a much narrower facet level for which less scholarly consensus exist. Moreover, the author calls for more research into determining at what threshold on various trait dimensions clinical dysfunction begins to emerge. He also notes that most assessment devices currently available for dimensional trait models do not meet the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, which needs to be rectified prior to clinical application. Such tests also need to include validity scales to assess for noncredible responding. Finally, the author recommends that proposed personality inventories for these dimensional personality models show incremental utility above and beyond already well-established clinical assessment instruments.

The MMPI has been a mainstay of psychological assessment for nearly eight decades, a testament to the richness and clinical utility of the test. We begin this chapter by tracing the history and evolution of the MMPI instruments, including the rationale for and development of the MMPI-2-RF. First, we provide an overview of the test scales and the documents available to guide its administration, scoring, and interpretation. Next, we give an overview of the psychometric features of the MMPI-2-RF scales and a review of the literature on its use in a broad of applied settings. We then review the literature on multicultural considerations when using the MMPI-2-RF. A brief description of the adolescent version of the inventory, the MMPI-A-RF, is followed by a concluding section that illustrates MMPI-2-RF interpretation with a case study.

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the structure and content of The Cambridge Handbook of Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis. Cross-cutting themes from the chapters are considered within the context of elements of a good clinical psychological assessment. More specifically, the various parts of clinical assessment, including referral, sources of information, differential diagnosis, clinical formulation, and report writing, along with considerations for noncredible reporting and cultural considerations, are discussed. For each component of a clinical assessment, reference to more detailed information in specific chapters is provided. This chapter ends with a call for future developments in clinical psychological assessment, with an emphasis on various technological advances to further bring assessment practices into the twenty-first century.