A recent Supreme Court decision--Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)--prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded (MR) defendants may have raised the attractiveness of feigning this condition in the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, very few published studies have addressed the detection of feigned MR. The present report compared results from tests of intelligence, psychiatric feigning, and neurocognitive faking in a group of 26 mild MR participants (MR) and 25 demographically matched community volunteers asked to feign MR (CVM). Results showed that the CVM suppressed their IQ scores to approximate closely the level of MR participants. WAIS-III and psychiatric malingering measures were relatively ineffective at discriminating feigned from genuine MR. Although neurocognitive malingering tests were more accurate, their reduced specificity in MR participants was of potential concern. Revised cutting scores, set to maintain a Specificity rate of about .95 in MR clients, were identified, although they require cross-validation. Overall, these results suggest that new cutting scores will likely need to be validated to detect feigned MR using current malingering instruments.
Objectives
The current study examines the prevalence of health risk behaviors and their cumulative effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) among a sample of adults. Age cohort is also examined to determine the role of age in predicting CVD and risky health behaviors.
Method
Medical records of a sample of adults from the Seattle Longitudinal Study categorized into one of four age-group cohorts were examined. Data regarding participants’ health risk behaviors were examined individually and cumulatively for predicting later CVD diagnosis.
Results
The prevalence of CVD increases with age, obesity, and risky medical checkups. Female risky sleepers are more likely to receive a CVD diagnosis than men who report risky sleep patterns (p < .05).
Discussion
A high risk of CVD appears to exist for adults across the life span, and several risky health behaviors also seem to place individuals more at risk for being diagnosed with CVD.
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