The ability of naive subjects to report symptoms of mild brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, and generalized anxiety disorder.
Diagnoses of major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and mild brain injury are based in substantial part on the self-reported symptoms of patients. This study found that 96.9% of untrained subjects were able to endorse symptoms on checklists to meet the DSM-III-R self-report criteria for major depression, 96.9% for generalized anxiety disorder, and 86% for PTSD. For the non-DSM-III-R diagnosis of mild brain injury, 63.3% of subjects were able to correctly identify 5 or more of 10 symptoms associated with this condition. Forensic examiners are advised to exercise special care in utilizing evaluation procedures that are of a leading nature, such as symptom checklists in which examinees may exhibit response biases.
Lees-Haley
P R
PR
Dunn
J T
JT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology