Performance of children on symptom validity tests: TOMM, MSVT, and FIT

Abstract

Symptom validity testing is a major topic in the field of neuropsychological research, but until now, few studies focus on effort testing in children. Three symptom validity tests (SVTs), the Medical Symptom Validity Test, the Test of Memory Malingering, and the Fifteen Item Test plus several standard neuropsychological tests were administered to 73 German-language school children from 6 to 11 years. Participants were either instructed to give full effort or to follow a malingering scenario. It could be demonstrated that, except for one child, all participants with a basic reading level of grade 2 were able to pass all administered SVTs according to established cutoffs for poor effort (i.e., earned a score higher than the cutoff). For the experimental malingerers, however, it was fairly difficult to act according to the scenario throughout the session. While they scored worse in the neuropsychological tests, all but one of them failed at least one SVT. The results support the use of SVTs in childhood age. More elaborate experimental designs and studies with bona-fide patients and suspected malingerers are needed in order to evaluate both the appropriateness of available effort tests and the capabilities of children to fake poor performance.

Effort-testing In Children Undergoing PsychoEducational Assessment Using The Medical Symptom Validity Test

“…They concluded that RDS results appear to be closely linked to cognitive abilities. Data from Hargrave et al support the position of Blaskewitz et al [3] [11].…”

“…In fact, there was no significant difference between the pass/fail rate of the effort measures between the French Canadian and the Normative sample (5% failure rate). The vast majority of students passed the MSVT effort measures, even the participants exhibiting behavioral problems, as was the case for the other children's clinical samples and in the literature documenting the use of MSVT with children with and without impairments [3] [4] [8] [9].…”

“…In addition, the use of the RDS procedure as a measure of effort in children has been little documented. Available data suggest that the cut-off scores used with adults are not appropriate for children: Blaskewitz, Merten, and Kathman used many effort measures, including the MSVT, and found the majority (59%) of children obtaining full-effort scores on other measures failed RDS with the traditional cut-off score of 7 [3]. They concluded that RDS results appear to be closely linked to cognitive abilities.…”

“…The conventional cut-off score for adults is 7 or below, which would indicate poor effort [10]. There is no agreed upon cut-off score for children, although some researchers have used the adult cut-off [3]. Only two studies have documented use of RDS with children: Chafetz, Abrahams, and Kohlmaier used the procedure as one of the variables in a model they designed to identify malingering in children and adults; Hargrave, Kirkwood, and Kirk examined sensitivity and specificity RDS with a sample of 275 mild-TBI clinical patients aged 8 to 16 [5] [11].…”

Postconcussive Symptom Exaggeration After Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Data from independent studies and the publisher indicate that children with a second-to thirdgrade reading level score above the recommended pass/fail cutoffs. [64][65][66][67] Postconcussive symptoms were rated using a graded symptom scale. The scale included 11 of 12 items from the Concussion Symptom Inventory (CSI).…”