title: The fake bad scale in atypical and severe closed head injury litigants.
abstract: The correlational and diagnostic properties of Lees-Haley's MMPI-2 Fake Bad Scale (FBS) were examined in litigating atypical minor, litigating moderate-severe, and non-litigating moderate-severe head injury samples. Overall, the FBS was sensitive to both litigation status and nonconforming versus conforming symptom courses. The FBS appeared superior to the MMPI-2 F and F-K scales in differentiating atypical from real brain-injury outcomes. High FBS scorers also had higher scores on somatic complaining (Hs, Hy) and to a lesser degree with psychotic complaints (F, Pa, Sc). FBS showed significant associations with various neuropsychological symptom validity measures. FBS appears to capture a hybrid of infrequent symptom reporting styles with an emphasis on unauthentic physical complaints. However, FBS also correlated with documented abnormal neurological signs within a litigating moderate-severe brain-injury group. Its use as a symptom infrequency measure may have to be modified in more severe injury litigants, as some FBS items may reflect true long-term outcome in severe cerebral dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Systems, Inc., Royal Oak, MI 48067, USA. mfgreiffenstein@mediaone.net
authors.forename: M Frank
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Greiffenstein
authors.forename: W John
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gola
authors.forename: Jacobus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Donders
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009042:Motivation; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological