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Association of the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Validity Scales with Structured Malingering Criteria

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Abstract

The current study examined the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath and Tellegen 2008) in relation to the structured malingering criteria developed to assess malingered neurocognitive dysfunction and pain-related disability. These criteria examined a sample of 251 individuals undergoing compensation-seeking evaluations, who completed a battery of response bias measures. The MMPI-2-RF over-reporting scales yielded large effect sizes in contrasting those in the probable/definite malingering groups from the incentive only groups. The largest effects were found for the Infrequent Responses and Gervais et al. (Assessment, 14, 196–208, 2007) Response Bias Scale, an experimental scale that can be scored on the MMPI-2-RF. Classification analyses were also utilized to examine various cut scores for the individual validity scales, as well as their use in combination. These results suggest that the MMPI-2-RF validity scales can be used to screen for malingering, as they exhibited good sensitivity at lower cutoffs. The implications of these results and their use in forensic evaluations are discussed.

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Notes

  1. The MMPI-2-RF uses the subset of the MMPI-2 normative sample that was developed by Ben-Porath and Forbey (2003) to create non-gendered norms for the MMPI-2. This was done by including data from the entire 1,138 men in the MMPI-2 normative sample, as well as randomly selecting 1,138 women from the original 1,462 collected for the MMPI-2 normative sample. Tellegen and Ben-Porath (2008) illustrate the comparability between scores derived from both sets of the norms.

  2. Portions of this archival dataset were examined by Alwes et al. (2008); Nelson et al. (2007); Smart et al. (2008); and Rogers et al. (2009). However, none of these studies examined the MMPI-2-RF scales.

  3. Eleven of the 251 participants (4%) claimed disability for both pain and neurocognitive impairment. In these cases, the participant was rated for both MND and MPRD. For 10 of these 11 participants, identical ratings were concluded based on each of the two malingering classification systems. One participant was rated as probable MPRD and possible MND. This individual was placed in the probable/definite malingering group for current analyses.

  4. We initially calculated our analyses (MANOVA and classification accuracy) separately for MND and MPRD and found no significant differences between the groups. Therefore, in order to increase the sample sizes, we merged the groups. Results separately by malingering criteria are available upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, 127 Cammack Building, 521 Lancaster Ave, Richmond, KY, 40475, USA

    Dustin B. Wygant, Jaime L. Anderson, Jesica L. Rapier & Leslie M. Allgeier

  2. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Martin Sellbom

  3. Lexington Forensic Neuropsychiatry, Lexington, MA, USA

    Robert P. Granacher

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  1. Dustin B. Wygant
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  2. Jaime L. Anderson
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Correspondence to Dustin B. Wygant.

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Dustin B. Wygant, Jaime L. Anderson, Leslie M. Allgeier, and Jesica L. Rapier, Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University; Martin Sellbom, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama; Robert P. Granacher, Lexington Forensic Neuropsychiatry, Lexington, Kentucky; Martin Sellbom receives research grants from the MMPI-2-RF publisher, the University of Minnesota Press.

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Wygant, D.B., Anderson, J.L., Sellbom, M. et al. Association of the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Validity Scales with Structured Malingering Criteria. Psychol. Inj. and Law 4, 13–23 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-011-9098-z

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