title: Neurosis and conscious symptom exaggeration: its differentiation by the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire.
abstract: In an attempt to develop an instrument to differentiate conscious exaggerators of symptoms from normals and neurotics, the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ) was administered to 164 members of a public utility, half of whom were instructed to fill it out as conscious exaggerators, and 82 individuals who presented at a hospital pain clinic with pain considered to be neurotically determined. Four IBQ subscales differentiated the three groups, and a new 21-item scale (CE-scale) was developed which achieved wide separation between the conscious exaggerators, neurotics and normals. It is suggested that the CE-scale may have considerable utility in assessing conscious exaggerators and compensation neurotics, and that further studies should assess its predictive value.
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012803:Sick Role; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology