title: Are exaggerated health complaints continuous or categorical? A taxometric analysis of the Health Problem Overstatement Scale.
abstract: A taxometric analysis of 3 factor scales extracted from the Health Problem Overstatement (HPO) scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI; R. I. Lanyon, 1970, 1978) was performed on the data from 1,240 forensic and psychiatric patients. Mean above minus below a cut, maximum covariance, and latent-mode factor analyses produced results indicative of dimensional latent structure for the exaggerated health complaints construct. The outcome of this and several other recent taxometric investigations indicates that across 3 different domains of feigning (i.e., psychiatric symptoms, memory problems, and health complaints), the overall feigning construct is ordered continuously along 1 or more dimensions rather than partitioned into discrete categories of malingerers and nonmalingerers. These findings call for more research on the extent to which the different domains of feigning share 1 or more dimensions in common.
authors.affiliation: Federal Correctional Institution-Schuylkill, Minersville, Pennsylvania, USA. gwalters@bop.gov
authors.forename: Glenn D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.forename: David T R
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Richard I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Lanyon
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods; D035881:Compensation and Redress / Q000941:ethics; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires