Plausibility Judgments of Atypical Symptoms Across Cultures: an Explorative Study Among Western and Non-Western Experts
AbstractSymptom validity tests (SVTs) are predicated on the assumption that overendorsement of atypical symptoms flags symptom exaggeration (i.e., questionable symptom validity). However, few studies have explored how practitioners from different cultural backgrounds evaluate such symptoms. We asked professionals working in Western (n = 56) and non-Western countries (n = 37) to rate the plausibility of uncommon symptoms taken from the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS), dissociative symptoms from the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES-T), and standard symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression) from the ...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - July 28, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Characteristics of ADHD in the Emerging Adult: an Overview
AbstractAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that persists into adulthood for many individuals. Research on the disorder, however, has largely focused on childhood or on adulthood but spanning a very broad age range. Emerging adulthood, conceptualized as the period between 18 and 29 years of age, has been identified as a distinct developmental stage. To date, there is relatively little research focused specifically on ADHD in that period of life. In the present paper, we provide an overview of the characteristics of ADHD in emerging adults. The prevalence of ADHD in this stag e of l...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - July 14, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Assessing Functional Impairment in ADHD: Concerns for Validity of Self-Report
We examined the influence of invalid self-report and invalid performance on report of functional impairment in a sample of 49 adults referred for evaluation for ADHD and/or learning disorder concerns. Overall, 26 –59% of participants referred for evaluation endorsed at least moderate levels of impairment in the domains of understanding and communicating, household, and school/work. Individuals with evidence of invalid self-report of ADHD symptoms endorsed significantly higher levels of disability/impairmen t on the WHODAS, particularly in the domains of understanding and communicating, household, school/work, and partici...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 27, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Clinical, Ethical, and Forensic Implications of a Flexible Threshold for LD and ADHD in Postsecondary Settings
AbstractSpecific learning disabilities (SLD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are lifelong neurologically based disorders diagnosed using objective and specific criteria. Evaluation of current practices indicates that many clinicians employ flexible thresholds for making these diagnoses, at least when evaluating young adults. Given that academic accommodations can provide significant competitive advantages and that students with these diagnoses may qualify for substantial government-funded subsidies and benefits, issues of fairness arise if the objective and research-informed criteria for making these di...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 22, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The Effectiveness of One Mental Health Court: Overcoming Criminal History
AbstractThe Mental Health Court (MHC) allows for defendants with mental illness to receive community-based treatment while helping to avoid further involvement in the criminal justice system. Studies have demonstrated varying degrees of success for participants ’ rearrest rate and severity while in the community. The role of prior criminal behavior on success in MHC, and for up to 3 years after release from MHC, was examined. Data was gathered on 118 participants in MHC, 80 of which graduated, and 38 who were dismissed without graduating. Arrests were c oded prior to entering MHC and at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 20, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Detecting Feigned Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Current Methods and Future Directions
This article discusses the definitions, base rates, external incentives, psychometric detection strategies, and ethical implications of feigned ADHD. ADHD is characterized by a pattern of developmentally inappropriate inattentive, overactivity, and/or impulsivity, often persisting into adulthood. Estimates of the prevalence of non-credible ADHD in university settings range from 25 to 50%. Feigned ADHD may be detected with symptom and performance validity measures. The existing empirical research has failed to produce a clear psychometric solution to this important differential diagnosis. Identifying feigned ADHD is a diffi...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 17, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Psychometric Markers of Genuine and Feigned Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Context of Applying for Academic Accommodations
AbstractThe article reviews systemic and context-specific challenges of psychoeducational assessment using two case studies: a 19-year-old woman with feigned attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a 50-year-old man with genuine dyslexia. These cases demonstrate that providing a thorough evaluation of performance validity is an essential component of determining eligibility for academic accommodations in both clinical and higher education settings. At the same time, discounting failure on certain performance validity tests may be necessary to protect against false positive errors. In addition, empirically based test s...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 6, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Practical Use of MMPI-2-RF Validity Indicators in VA Compensation and Pension Examinations
AbstractPosttraumatic stress disorder is becoming increasingly compensable and is susceptible to feigning. US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) compensation and pension evaluators should carefully consider the classification accuracy of the validity scales they use to determine if veterans are feigning mental health symptoms. Although the MMPI-2-RF is useful in detecting feigned PTSD in VA compensation and pension examinations, the validity scale results are impacted by certain clinical conditions such as PTSD. Fp-r accurately differentiates veterans honestly reporting PTSD from feigners, with some concern about moderati...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 3, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The Challenges and Limitations of Diagnosing and Pharmacologically Treating ADHD in University Students
AbstractThe diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in university students present particular challenges. The lack of quality childhood historical data and limitations of existing neuropsychological instruments can create difficulties, especially when this easily feigned condition presents with numerous incentives for it to be feigned (i.e. access to psychostimulants, academic accommodations). The need for a thorough history in combination with symptom validity test (SVT) use is emphasized. A brief overview of psychostimulant mechanism of action, risks, side effects and long-term effects ...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - June 1, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Conducting Veteran Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Exams: Establishing a Nexus Between Mental Health and Death
This article seeks to fill this gap and provide a resource for mental health professionals providing medical opinions in DIC claims. (Source: Psychological Injury and Law)
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - April 21, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The Insanity Exemption to Other than Honorable Discharge for the Purpose of Claiming Benefits: The Role of the Mental Health Examiner
This article fills this gap by discussing the unique legal statutes that define insanity for the purpose of benefit eligibility. In addition, it shares available resources and highlights themes resulting from having opined in such cases and having reviewed 30 Board of Veterans Appeals decisions involving claimed insanity. (Source: Psychological Injury and Law)
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - April 18, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Erratum to: Do the Military ’s Frontline Psychiatry/Combat and Operational Stress Control Doctrine Help or Harm Veterans?—Part one: Framing the Issue
(Source: Psychological Injury and Law)
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - March 1, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Do the Military ’s Frontline Psychiatry/Combat Operational Stress Control Programs Benefit Veterans? Part Two: Systematic Review of the Evidence
AbstractThe second of a three-part review provides the first-ever systematic investigation into the military ’s claim that its century-old policy of preventing evacuation of psychiatric casualties from war zones is beneficial to the health and well-being of individual service members and their families. We conducted an extensive literature search for studies on the military’s frontline psychiatry doctr ine, particularly research comparing the differential effects of deployed personnel returned-to-duty (RTD) via frontline psychiatry or combat and operational stress control (COSC) and behavioral health interventions, as ...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - February 9, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Is the Military ’s Century-Old Frontline Psychiatry Policy Harmful to Veterans and Their Families? Part Three of a Systematic Review
AbstractThe explicit mission of the military ’s 100-year-old frontline psychiatry doctrine is to ensure that upwards to 95% of deployed service members diagnosed with war stress injury and/or psychiatric disorder are prevented from leaving war zones, unless they are either grossly incapacitated or pose imminent safety risks to self or others . In the final segment of this comprehensive three-part review, we examine systematically evidence that the military’s mental health policies may be harmful to veterans and their families in order to address unanswered clinical, moral, and legal questions. Our analysis reviews, emp...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - February 5, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Limited English Proficiency Increases Failure Rates on Performance Validity Tests with High Verbal Mediation
This study was designed to examine the effect of language proficiency and level of verbal mediation on failure rates on performance validity tests (PVTs). PVTs with high and low verbal mediation were administered to 80 healthy community-dwelling English-Arabic bilinguals. Digit Span and Animal Fluency were administered in both English and Arabic, in counterbalanced order, as part of a brief battery of neuropsychological tests. Participants with Arabic as their dominant language were 2 to 16 times more likely to fail PVTs with high verbal mediation compared to native speakers of English. When Digit Span and Animal Fluency w...
Source: Psychological Injury and Law - January 30, 2017 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
