Differences in MMPI-2 FBS and RBS scores in brain injury, probable malingering, and conversion disorder groups: a preliminary study

Clin Neuropsychol. 2013;27(4):693-707. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2013.779032. Epub 2013 Mar 20.

Abstract

This study examined differences in raw scores on the Symptom Validity Scale and Response Bias Scale (RBS) from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 in three criterion groups: (i) valid traumatic brain injured, (ii) invalid traumatic brain injured, and (iii) psychogenic non-epileptic seizure disorders. Results indicate that a >30 raw score cutoff for the Symptom Validity Scale accurately identified 50% of the invalid traumatic brain injured group, while misclassifying none of the valid traumatic brain injured group and 6% of the psychogenic non-epileptic seizure disorder group. Using a >15 RBS raw cutoff score accurately classified 50% of the invalid traumatic brain injured group and misclassified fewer than 10% of the valid traumatic brain injured and psychogenic non-epileptic seizure disorder groups. These cutoff scores used conjunctively did not misclassify any members of the psychogenic non-epileptic seizure disorder or valid traumatic brain injured groups, while accurately classifying 44% of the invalid traumatic brain injured individuals. Findings from this preliminary study suggest that the conjunctive use of the Symptom Validity Scale and the RBS from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 may be useful in differentiating probable malingering from individuals with brain injuries and conversion disorders.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Bias*
  • Brain Injuries / psychology*
  • Conversion Disorder / psychology*
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Epilepsy / diagnosis
  • Epilepsy / psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Malingering / diagnosis
  • Malingering / psychology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Inventory*
  • Probability
  • Reproducibility of Results