title: Inconsistent Responding in a Criminal Forensic Setting: An Evaluation of the VRIN-r and TRIN-r Scales of the MMPI-2-RF.
abstract: Criminal forensic evaluations are complicated by the risk that examinees will respond in an unreliable manner. Unreliable responding could occur due to lack of personal investment in the evaluation, severe mental illness, and low cognitive abilities. In this study, 31% of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008/2011) profiles were invalid due to random or fixed-responding (T score ≥ 80 on the VRIN-r or TRIN-r scales) in a sample of pretrial criminal defendants evaluated in the context of treatment for competency restoration. Hierarchical regression models showed that symptom exaggeration variables, as measured by inconsistently reported psychiatric symptoms, contributed over and above education and intellectual functioning in their prediction of both random responding and fixed responding. Psychopathology variables, as measured by mood disturbance, better predicted fixed responding after controlling for estimates of cognitive abilities, but did not improve the prediction for random responding. These findings suggest that random responding and fixed responding are not only affected by education and intellectual functioning, but also by intentional exaggeration and aspects of psychopathology. Measures of intellectual functioning and effort and response style should be considered for administration in conjunction with self-report personality measures to rule out rival hypotheses of invalid profiles.
authors.affiliation: a Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center , Bronx , New York.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , Fairleigh Dickinson University.
authors.forename: Hima B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , Fairleigh Dickinson University.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: c Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center , New York , New York.|d Department of Psychiatry , New York University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Belfi
authors.affiliation: e Department of Psychology , University of Hartford.
authors.forename: Shanah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Einzig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003417:Criminal Psychology; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report