title: Postconcussive symptom overreporting in Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.
abstract: A comprehensive evaluation, including the assessment of neurobehavioral symptoms, has been instituted at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system to address the large number of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans returning with mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs). The Validity-10 is measure of symptom overreporting embedded within the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, a component of the comprehensive evaluation that assesses postconcussive symptom severity. The Validity-10 is composed of 10 unlikely/low-frequency items and a validated cutoff score to identify postconcussive symptom overreporting. We examined the items and cutoff used in the initial development and validation study of the Validity-10 through retrospective chart reviews of 331 treatment-seeking Veterans who sustained an mTBI. The Validity-10 exhibited significant relationships with psychiatric variables, VA service connection, and neuropsychological performance validity (all p < 0.01), but nonsignificant relationships with demographic and injury variables (all p > 0.05). Furthermore, the Validity-10 modestly predicted neuropsychological performance validity test failure over and above psychiatric comorbidities and VA service connection. The present study supports the use of the Validity-10 to assess symptom validity in treatment-seeking OIF/OEF Veterans with a history of mTBI.
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA.|Veterans Medical Research Foundation, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jurick
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Twamley
authors.affiliation: Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Laura D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Crocker
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA.|Veterans Medical Research Foundation, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Chelsea C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Henry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Orff
authors.affiliation: Veterans Medical Research Foundation, San Diego, CA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Shahrokh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Golshan
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.|Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014729:Veterans Disability Claims; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom; concussion; depression; mild traumatic brain injury; neurobehavioral symptoms; neuropsychology; performance validity test; postconcussive symptoms; posttraumatic stress disorder; symptom validity test