Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug;59(3):306-12.
doi: 10.1037/a0037217.

Effort in acute traumatic brain injury: considering more than pass/fail

Sara M Lippa  1 , Kristina A Agbayani  1 , Samuel Hawes  1 , Emily Jokic  1 , Jerome S Caroselli  1
Affiliations

Effort in acute traumatic brain injury: considering more than pass/fail

Sara M Lippa et al. Rehabil Psychol. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose/objective: Performance validity is often conceptualized as a dichotomous process. Effort likely lies on a continuum, however, and psychologists' tendency to rely on pass/fail descriptors of one's effort may not be the only approach. The current study aims to show that when performance validity is considered on a continuum, it may provide clinical information related to cognitive functioning.

Research method/design: Forty-four patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury were evaluated with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status upon their emergence from posttraumatic amnesia. From this data, previously developed effort index scores and "other cognitive functions" index scores were calculated.

Results: Performance on the effort index significantly accounted for the patients' performance on a cognitive composite score after considering education and severity of injury.

Conclusions/implications: Findings suggest that more in-depth analysis of validity test performance is beneficial to gauge a patient's level of effort and is important to consider when interpreting results and in treatment planning.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Armistead-Jehle P. Symptom validity test performance in U.S. veterans referred for evaluation of mild TBI. Applied Neuropsychology. 2010;17:52–59. doi:10.1080/09084280903526182. - PubMed
    1. Armistead-Jehle P, Hansen CL. Comparison of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status Effort Index and stand-alone symptom validity tests in a military sample. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2011;26:592–601. doi:10.1093/arclin/acr049. - PubMed
    1. Aupperle RL, Beatty WW, Shelton Fde N, Gontkovsky ST. Three screening batteries to detect cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis. 2002;8:382–389. doi:10.1191/1352458502ms832oa. - PubMed
    1. Barker MD, Horner MD, Bachman DL. Embedded indices of effort in the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuro-psychological status (RBANS) in a geriatric sample. The Clinical Neuropsychologist. 2010;24:1064–1077. doi:10.1080/13854046.2010.486009. - PubMed
    1. Beatty WW, Ryder KA, Gontkovsky ST, Scott JG, McSwan KL, Bharucha KJ. Analyzing the subcortical dementia syndrome of Parkinson's disease using the RBANS. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2003;18:509–520. - PubMed