MMPI-2 validity, clinical and content scales, and the Fake Bad Scale for personal injury litigants claiming idiopathic environmental intolerance

An idiographic approach to idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) part I. Environmental, psychosocial and clinical assessment of three individuals with severe IEI-EMF

“…For Participant #1 and #2, questionnaire scores indicated above average somatic symptom distress, an elevated tendency to experience somatic sensations as intense, disturbing, and noxious (somatosensory amplification), a tendency to interpret emotional distress as bodily symptoms (somatic attribution style), and fear of having a serious illness (health anxiety), which are in accordance with the findings of Staudenmayer and Phillips (2007). These trait-like, temporally stable psychological characteristics involve increased attentional focus on bodily sensations and health status which can favour the interpretation and labelling of autonomic arousal or even normal bodily processes as symptoms (Barsky et al, 2002;Petrie et al, 2005;Szemerszky et al, 2015a,b).…”

Repressive coping and alexithymia in idiopathic environmental intolerance

“…The authors of this study concluded that unauthenticated somatic symptoms may be exaggerated, suggesting malingering. While the results of this latter study may be seen as supportive of our findings, it should be noted that a different measure of defensiveness was used and the sample investigated were plaintiffs [49]. It should also be noted that the MCSDS has been criticized for being unable to distinguish between other-deception and self-deception [50], and future studies of IEI should attempt to distinguish between these two aspects of social desirable responding.…”

“…Defensiveness as assessed by the MCSDS has been investigated in two studies by Bell et al [47,48] on IEI: however, no differences were found in either study when individuals with IEI were compared to healthy controls. In another study, using a subscale from the Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory (MMPI-2) as a measure of defensiveness, chemical sensitivity litigants were found to be more defensive about expressing distress and psychopathology [49]. The authors of this study concluded that unauthenticated somatic symptoms may be exaggerated, suggesting malingering.…”

The MMPI-2 Symptom Validity Scale (FBS) Not Influenced by Medical Impairment: A Large Sleep Center Investigation

“…The MMPI-2-FBS is a generally accepted measure of symptom overreporting in personal injury settings (Sharland & Gfeller, 2007), is sensitive to exaggerated disability in persons seeking benefits for ambiguous neurological trauma (Greiffenstein, Fox, & Lees-Haley, 2007), and is supported by more than 45 original research studies (Greiffenstein et al, 2007). This evidence includes MMPI-2-FBS association with illogical symptom histories (Greiffenstein, Baker, Axelrod, Peck, & Gervais, 2004;Greiffenstein, Baker, Gola, Donders, & Miller, 2002), failed cognitive effort tests (Gervais, Ben-Porath, Wygant, & Green, 2007;Larrabee, 2003a;Wygant, Sellbom, et al, 2007), known medical simulation (Wygant et al, 2009), unusual chemical exposure claims (Binder, Storzbach, & Salinsky, 2006;Staudenmayer & Phillips, 2007), and settings historically associated with secondary gain, such as chronic pain clinics (Bianchini, Etherton, Greve, Heinly, & Meyers, 2008;Butcher, Arbisi, Atlis, & McNulty, 2003). A recent meta-analysis documented the incremental validity of the FBS when compared with all other MMPI-2 validity scales (Nelson, Sweet, & Demakis, 2006).…”