Eastern Kentucky University
Recent Scale Development and Validation in the Field of Psychology: Study 2: (Rapier) Association of the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Validity Scales with Structured Malingering Criteria
Institution
Eastern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Richard Osbaldiston; Dustin Wygant
Abstract
The Restructured Form of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2-RF) is a broadband self-report measure of personality and psychopathology, which is widely utilized in disability and forensic evaluations. The test has several "validity" scales that are designed to detect when the test taker is exaggerating or malingering various symptoms of mental illness. Past research has found that MMPI-2-RF validity scales can capture symptom exaggeration associated with malingering. The current study examined the ability of several MMPI-2-RF validity scales to detect malingering among in a sample of 251 disability and personal injury claimants that were classified into malingering groups determined by structured criteria designed to capture malingered neurocognitive dysfunction and malingered pain-related disability. An Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine the MMPI-2-RF validity scales across the malingering classifications. The results revealed the Response Bias Scale (RBS) and Infrequent Responses (F-r) validity scales were best at detecting malingering and distinguishing between the malingering classifications. Both of these scales also showed utility in classifying malingering utilizing classification analysis statistics. In general, this study supports the clinical utility of the MMPI-2-RF over-reporting validity indicators in establishing the probability of malingering. Implications and directions for future research will be discussed.
Recent Scale Development and Validation in the Field of Psychology: Study 2: (Rapier) Association of the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Validity Scales with Structured Malingering Criteria
The Restructured Form of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2-RF) is a broadband self-report measure of personality and psychopathology, which is widely utilized in disability and forensic evaluations. The test has several "validity" scales that are designed to detect when the test taker is exaggerating or malingering various symptoms of mental illness. Past research has found that MMPI-2-RF validity scales can capture symptom exaggeration associated with malingering. The current study examined the ability of several MMPI-2-RF validity scales to detect malingering among in a sample of 251 disability and personal injury claimants that were classified into malingering groups determined by structured criteria designed to capture malingered neurocognitive dysfunction and malingered pain-related disability. An Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine the MMPI-2-RF validity scales across the malingering classifications. The results revealed the Response Bias Scale (RBS) and Infrequent Responses (F-r) validity scales were best at detecting malingering and distinguishing between the malingering classifications. Both of these scales also showed utility in classifying malingering utilizing classification analysis statistics. In general, this study supports the clinical utility of the MMPI-2-RF over-reporting validity indicators in establishing the probability of malingering. Implications and directions for future research will be discussed.