title: Does the disorder matter? Investigating a moderating effect on coached noncredible overreporting using the MMPI-2 and PAI.
abstract: The use of psychological tests to help identify the noncredible overreporting of psychiatric disorders is a long-standing practice that has received considerable attention from researchers. The purpose of this study was to experimentally determine whether feigning specific psychiatric disorders moderated the influence of coaching on the detection of noncredible overreporting using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Using a 2 × 3 experimental analogue design, 265 undergraduates were asked to feign schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder and were either coached about validity scales and disorders or not. The results of this study indicated that the specific psychiatric disorder being feigned did moderate the impact coaching had on the detection of overreported psychopathology using several scales on the MMPI-2 and PAI. Future research examining noncredible overreporting should take into account the impact caused by the interaction of psychiatric disorder with coaching on the detection of symptom overreporting and also identify other important moderating/mediating variables in order to develop more effective means of identifying response bias.
authors.affiliation: Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA. veltri@stolaf.edu
authors.forename: Carlo O C
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Veltri
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D015982:Bias; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013404:Suggestion; D055815:Young Adult