Do Motivations for Malingering Matter? Symptoms of Malingered PTSD as a Function of Motivation and Trauma Type

Abstract

Psychological disorders associated with traumatic events, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), may be prone to malingering due to the subjective nature of trauma symptomology. In general, symptoms tend to be inflated when an external reward (i.e., compensation) is associated with the claim. The present study was designed to test whether malingered claims of PTSD symptoms differed as a function of the type of trauma being malingered (accident, disaster, sexual assault) and the motivation for malingering (compensation, attention, revenge, no motivation). Participants were randomly assigned into conditions, given malingering instructions, and then asked to complete three measures of trauma symptoms (Impact of Event Scale-Revised; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist; Trauma Symptom Inventory). Results indicated that participants in the sexual assault condition produced higher symptom reports on nearly all scales. Revenge and compensation motivations yielded elevated symptom scores. Further, individuals rated high in fantasy proneness and dissociation produced elevated scores on atypical responding and most clinical scales. More research is needed to examine the extent to which different motivations and trauma types influence symptom reporting.

Feigning ≠ Feigning a Memory Deficit: The Medical Symptom Validity Test as an Example

“…Second, the results of the pilot study replicated previous findings that suggested a subtle difference between malingerers instructed with a civil case vignette and those instructed with a criminal case vignette (Merckelbach et al, 2009;Peace & Masliuk, 2011). Note, however, that study 2 did not find differences between the civil and criminal malinger groups in MSVT and SIMS failure rates.…”

“…One explanation for this discrepancy might be that study 2 relied on case vignettes that were highly similar in content (i.e., both centred on a person witnessing a close family member in danger) and that both malinger groups were instructed to feign psychological symptoms. The most systematic simulation study to date that addressed this issue is that of Peace and Masliuk (2011). These authors determined that feigning motivated by revenge or compensation resulted in higher symptom levels than feigning motivated by a need for attention.…”

Verify the scene, report the symptoms: Testing the Verifiability Approach and SRSI in the detection of fabricated PTSD claims

“…Feigners, besides the financial incentive, were asked to imagine having a chance to revenge to the train company. Revenge was shown to be a strong motivator (Peace & Masliuk, 2011). Yet, in reality, people claiming PTSD are often confronted with a significantly stronger (financial or emotional) incentive (positive or negative), which can have a different influence on their response style (Peace & Masliuk, 2011;Peace & Richards, 2014;Resnick et al, 2008).…”

“…Rather, most research focusses on the development of symptom scales that test for over-reporting and exaggerated complaints known as the Symptom Validity Tests (SVTs). The 'over-the-top' way of responding to symptoms inventories was shown to be a trademark of fabricated PTSD reports (e.g., Hall & Hall, 2007;Peace & Masliuk, 2011;Tracy & Rix, 2017). Thus, the idea behind the SVTs is that those who fabricate their symptoms will overendorse items on symptom inventories, even if they contain bizarre/implausible complaints (Merckelbach & Smith, 2003).…”

Why “Trauma-Related Dissociation” Is a Misnomer in Courts: a Critical Analysis of Brand et al. (2017a, b)

“…Furthermore, Peace and Masliuk (2011) found in their experimental study indications that fantasy proneness is related to a stronger symptom over-reporting tendency.…”