title: Examining the use of the M-FAST with criminal defendants incompetent to stand trial.
abstract: The Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST) was developed to provide evaluators with a brief, reliable, and valid screen for malingered mental illness. This study examined the initial validity of the M-FAST in a sample of 50 criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial because of a mental illness. The M-FAST total score and items were compared with the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) and the fake-bad indicators of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Results indicated good evidence of construct and criterion validity, demonstrated by t tests, receiver operating characteristics analysis, and high correlations between the M-FAST, SIRS, and the fake-bad indices on the MMPI-2. Tentative cut scores for the M-FAST total score and scales were examined and demonstrated high utility with the sample of criminal defendants incompetent to stand trial.
authors.affiliation: College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas 77341-2296, USA. hmiller@shsu.edu
authors.forename: Holly A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States