Symptom overreporting in combat veterans evaluated for PTSD: Differentiation on the basis of compensation seeking status

B. Christopher Frueh; Paul B. Gold; Michael A. De Arellano

doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6802_8

Symptom overreporting in combat veterans evaluated for PTSD: Differentiation on the basis of compensation seeking status

B. Christopher Frueh, Paul B. Gold, Michael A. De Arellano

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

113 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examined the role of compensation-seeking status on response patterns to self-report inventories of acute psychopathology and psychological distress in a group of 165 combat veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Veterans completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, a fixed-response format version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Impact of Events Scale as part of a standard assessment battery. Results showed that compensation-seeking veterans endorsed dramatically higher levels of psychopathology across measures and produced sharply elevated 'fake-bad' validity indices as compared to non-compensation-seeking veterans. Differences between the two groups on most scales and indices exceeded effect sizes of 1.0, even when effects of income, global assessment of functioning, and clinician-rated severity of PTSD were controlled for. It is suggested that the availability of VA disability compensation for combat-related PTSD impedes accurate initial assessment of veterans presenting for treatment and may impair estimation of long-term therapeutic outcome in this population.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	369-384
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Personality Assessment
Volume	68
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6802_8
State	Published - Apr 1997

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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@article{c0061e093c094f78a6b8a53f552336ce,

title = "Symptom overreporting in combat veterans evaluated for PTSD: Differentiation on the basis of compensation seeking status",

abstract = "We examined the role of compensation-seeking status on response patterns to self-report inventories of acute psychopathology and psychological distress in a group of 165 combat veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Veterans completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, a fixed-response format version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Impact of Events Scale as part of a standard assessment battery. Results showed that compensation-seeking veterans endorsed dramatically higher levels of psychopathology across measures and produced sharply elevated 'fake-bad' validity indices as compared to non-compensation-seeking veterans. Differences between the two groups on most scales and indices exceeded effect sizes of 1.0, even when effects of income, global assessment of functioning, and clinician-rated severity of PTSD were controlled for. It is suggested that the availability of VA disability compensation for combat-related PTSD impedes accurate initial assessment of veterans presenting for treatment and may impair estimation of long-term therapeutic outcome in this population.",

author = "Frueh, \{B. Christopher\} and Gold, \{Paul B.\} and \{De Arellano\}, \{Michael A.\}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Keith Chobot and Daniel W. Smith for their contributions to this project, and we extend our gratitude to Michael D. Homer and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. Portions of this research were presented at the Society for Personality Assessment Midwinter Meeting, Denver, CO, March 1996.",

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doi = "10.1207/s15327752jpa6802\_8",

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AU - De Arellano, Michael A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Keith Chobot and Daniel W. Smith for their contributions to this project, and we extend our gratitude to Michael D. Homer and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. Portions of this research were presented at the Society for Personality Assessment Midwinter Meeting, Denver, CO, March 1996.

PY - 1997/4

Y1 - 1997/4

N2 - We examined the role of compensation-seeking status on response patterns to self-report inventories of acute psychopathology and psychological distress in a group of 165 combat veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Veterans completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, a fixed-response format version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Impact of Events Scale as part of a standard assessment battery. Results showed that compensation-seeking veterans endorsed dramatically higher levels of psychopathology across measures and produced sharply elevated 'fake-bad' validity indices as compared to non-compensation-seeking veterans. Differences between the two groups on most scales and indices exceeded effect sizes of 1.0, even when effects of income, global assessment of functioning, and clinician-rated severity of PTSD were controlled for. It is suggested that the availability of VA disability compensation for combat-related PTSD impedes accurate initial assessment of veterans presenting for treatment and may impair estimation of long-term therapeutic outcome in this population.

AB - We examined the role of compensation-seeking status on response patterns to self-report inventories of acute psychopathology and psychological distress in a group of 165 combat veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Veterans completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, a fixed-response format version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Impact of Events Scale as part of a standard assessment battery. Results showed that compensation-seeking veterans endorsed dramatically higher levels of psychopathology across measures and produced sharply elevated 'fake-bad' validity indices as compared to non-compensation-seeking veterans. Differences between the two groups on most scales and indices exceeded effect sizes of 1.0, even when effects of income, global assessment of functioning, and clinician-rated severity of PTSD were controlled for. It is suggested that the availability of VA disability compensation for combat-related PTSD impedes accurate initial assessment of veterans presenting for treatment and may impair estimation of long-term therapeutic outcome in this population.

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Symptom overreporting in combat veterans evaluated for PTSD: Differentiation on the basis of compensation seeking status

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