title: Assessment of complex dissociative disorder patients and simulated dissociation in forensic contexts.
abstract: Few assessors receive training in assessing dissociation and complex dissociative disorders (DDs). Potential differential diagnoses include anxiety, mood, psychotic, substance use, and personality disorders, as well as exaggeration and malingering. Individuals with DDs typically elevate on many clinical and validity scales on psychological tests, yet research indicates that they can be distinguished from DD simulators. Becoming informed about the testing profiles of DD individuals and DD simulators can improve the accuracy of differential diagnoses in forensic settings. In this paper, we first review the testing profiles of individuals with complex DDs and contrast them with DD simulators on assessment measures used in forensic contexts, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), and the Structured Inventory of Reported Symptoms (SIRS), as well as dissociation-specific measures such as the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D-R). We then provide recommendations for assessing complex trauma and dissociation through the aforementioned assessments.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Towson University, Towson, MD, United States. Electronic address: bbrand@towson.edu.
authors.forename: Bethany L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Towson University, Towson, MD, United States. Electronic address: awebermann@towson.edu.
authors.forename: Aliya R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Webermann
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Southern California, Lafayette, CA, United States. Electronic address: drpsylex@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A Steven
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Frankel
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D000068099:Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: Dissociation; Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES); Dissociative identity disorder; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2); Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D-R); Trauma