Embedded Symptom Validity Scales in Psychological Injury Evaluations: Focus on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2-RF and MMPI-3) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
摘要
Potential overreporting of symptoms or impairments by the plaintiff is a crucial consideration in psychological injury litigation. Therefore, forensic evaluators must have a solid understanding of the conceptual and empirical foundations of symptom validity tests (SVTs) and embedded scales. The purpose of this chapter was to provide an updated literature review and to guide evaluators in using broadband personality inventories that include some of the most well-established SVT indicators: the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) instruments, with emphasis on the MMPI-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), the newly released MMPI-3, and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), including the newly released PAI Plus supplement. The overreporting scales of each instrument are reviewed, focusing on scale development methods, standard cutoff values, and current empirical support, within a psychological injury framework. Findings suggest that SVT indicators on both the MMPI-2-RF/3 and the PAI are psychometrically sound with growing bodies of empirical support. The relative advantages and disadvantages of each measure are discussed, revealing general themes. The overreporting scales of the MMPI-2-RF have notable research support and relevant civil litigant normative group data, both strengths that can be applied to the MMPI-3. In comparison, the PAI leads SVT research in advanced detection techniques and has recently gained multiple supplementary indicators and relevant normative group data with the PAI Plus. Nevertheless, the chapter authors emphasize the importance of interpreting SVT indicators with special caution in the context of psychological injury evaluations, in which there is a greater risk of false-positive detection of overreporting than in non-forensic settings. Recommendations for civil forensic evaluators, diversity considerations, and questions for future research are included throughout.