Diagnostic efficiency of the PAI negative distortion indicators for detecting feigned head injury.

Abstract

Objective: The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 2007) has several procedures for detecting negative response distortion, including standard indicators Negative Impression Management (NIM), Malingering Index (MAL), and the Rogers Discriminant Function (RDF). Recently, additional indicators have been introduced: the Negative Distortion Scale (NDS; Mogge et al., 2010), Hong Malingering Index (HMI; Hong & Kim, 2001), the Multiscale Feigning Index (Gaines et al., 2013), and the Cognitive Bias Scale (Gaasedelen et al., 2019). The present study examines the diagnostic efficiency of these standard and supplemental indicators to detect feigned head injury. Method: Undergraduate students (n = 113) responded to the PAI in a role-play scenario with incentives to feign serious head injury following an automobile accident, and their PAI results were compared to patients with actual history of head injury (n = 86). Results: Significant differences between groups were observed for all three standard indicators and for all four supplemental indicators. Receiver operating curves analyses evaluated the diagnostic efficiency of recommended and sample-optimal cut scores, and logistic regression models evaluated the incremental validity of the supplemental indicators. Conclusions: The study found support for two standard indicators (NIM and RDF) and two supplemental indicators (NDS and HMI) in the detection of feigned head injury.