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Comparative Study
. 2001 Jun;8(2):221-36.
doi: 10.1177/107319110100800210.

The detection of malingered posttraumatic stress disorder with MMPI-2 fake bad indices

J D Elhai  1 , S N Gold, A H Sellers, W I Dorfman
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The detection of malingered posttraumatic stress disorder with MMPI-2 fake bad indices

J D Elhai et al. Assessment. 2001 Jun.

Abstract

This investigation explored the effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) simulation on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) responses, to detect malingered from genuine PTSD. Sixty-four adult PTSD outpatients at a child sexual abuse (CSA) survivor treatment program were compared with 85 adult college students instructed and trained to malinger PTSD. MMPI-2 overreporting indices examined were F, F-Fb, F-K, F(p), Ds2, O-S, OT, and FBS. A stepwise discriminant analysis identified F(p), F-K, and O-S as the best malingering predictors. A predictive discriminant analysis yielded good hit rates for the model, with impressive cross-validation results. Cutoff scores were assessed for the model's predictors. Clinical implications for detecting malingered PTSD using the MMPI-2 are discussed.

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