An appreciable disparity exists between the need for services by professionals with expertise in psychological trauma and the availability of these services. Despite the establishment of a solid base of scientific literature on trauma and the growing attunement of society and the media to the adverse psychological impact of traumatic events, this area has yet to be decisively incorporated into the core curriculum of graduate training in psychology and other professions. This paper provides an overview of the prevalence, scope, and impact of trauma in the general population and the current lack of adequate resources to address the psychological difficulties engendered by traumatic experiences. Existing models of trauma training are discussed, and strategies for expanding the availability of trauma training are recommended.
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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.