title: Validation of an abbreviated version of the structured interview of reported symptoms in outpatient psychiatric and community settings.
abstract: This study examined the effectiveness of an abbreviated version of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS-A) in identifying malingered mental illness. The SIRS-A is comprised of 69 items drawn from the SIRS (R. Rogers et al. 1992, SIRS: Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.), substantially reducing the administration time. A simulation design was used with three samples; 87 psychiatric outpatients who responded honestly were compared to 29 community-dwelling adults and 24 psychiatric patients instructed to malinger psychopathology. The SIRS-A generated sensitivity comparable to or exceeding that of the SIRS normative data, but specificity was poorer; many genuinely impaired patients were misclassified as malingering. Although these findings suggest the SIRS-A may be an effective means to assess malingering in psychiatric populations, further research assessing the reasons for the elevated false positive rates is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458, USA.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
authors.forename: Tia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dole
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pivovarova
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Zapf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged