Citation

Sabelli AG, Messa I, Giromini L, Lichtenstein JD, May N, Erdodi LA. Psychol. Inj. Law 2021; 14(1): 17-36.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12207-021-09400-6

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relative contribution of symptom (SVT) and performance validity tests (PVTs) to the evaluation of the credibility of neuropsychological profiles in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). An archival sample of 326 patients with mTBI was divided into four psychometrically defined criterion groups: pass both SVT and PVT; pass one, but fail the other; and fail both. Scores on performance-based tests of neurocognitive ability and self-reported symptom inventories were compared across the groups. As expected, PVT failure was associated with lower scores on ability tests (ηp2.042-.184; d 0.56-1.00; medium-large effects), and SVT failure was associated with higher levels of symptom report (ηp2.039-.312; d 0.32-1.58; small-very large effects). However, SVT failure also had a marginal deleterious effect on performance based measures (ηp2.017-.023; d 0.23-0.46; small-medium effects) and elevations on self-report inventories were observed in the context of PVT failure (ηp2.026; d 0.23-0.57; small-medium effects). SVT failure was associated with not only inflated symptom reports but also distorted configural patterns of psychopathology. Patients with clinically elevated somatic and depressive symptoms were twice as likely to fail PVTs. Consistent with previous research, SVTs and PVTs provide overlapping, but non-redundant information about the credibility of neuropsychological profiles associated with mTBI. Therefore, they should be used in combination to afford a comprehensive evaluation of cognitive and emotional functioning. The heuristic value of validity tests has both clinical and forensic relevance.

Language: en

Keywords

Mild TBI; MMPI-2; Performance validity; Psychogenic interference; Symptom validity; Word memory test