Symptom validity assessment in European countries: Development and state of the art

Merten, Thomas; Dandachi-FitzGerald, Brechje; Hall, Vicki; Schmand, Ben; Santamaría, Pablo; González‐Ordi, Héctor

doi:10.1016/s1130-5274(13)70014-8

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…By the 1980s, the center of research activities and the development of new and more powerful diagnostic approaches had almost completely shifted to North America. For some decades, Europe was lagging behind by at least 10 years in the field of feigning research and diagnostic practices (for a review of European developments, see Merten et al, ).…”

Section: Emerging Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An International Perspective on Feigned Mental Disabilities: Conceptual Issues and Continuing Controversies

Merten¹,

Rogers

2017

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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In forensic contexts, an increased prevalence of feigned symptom presentations should be expected, although it will probably vary by the context and specific forensic issue. Forensic experts should examine this possibility proactively while maintaining a balanced perspective that actively considers clinical data for both feigning and genuine responding. Psychological measures and standardized methods developed for feigning and other response styles can facilitate these often complex determinations. The current article provides an international perspective on the issue of feigned mental disabilities. In particular, important conceptual issues are discussed, such as the categorical versus dimensional approaches to feigning, and the advisability of well-defined rather than single-point cut scores for accuracy in clinical decision-making. Salient problems of differential diagnosis include a spectrum from malingering and factitious disorders to somatoform and conversion disorders. In rendering these important diagnostic distinctions, the questions of motivations and intentions remain key. However, the establishment of motivation cannot be facilely assumed from the context. Instead, forensic psychologists and psychiatrists bear the professional burden of carefully evaluating motivation and recognizing the clinical reality that sometimes the motivation in especially challenging cases may not be fully determined. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Emerging Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An International Perspective on Feigned Mental Disabilities: Conceptual Issues and Continuing Controversies

Merten¹,

Rogers

2017

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…High rates are demonstrated statistically by the paradox that between 2006 to 2011 the amount of road traffic accidents dropped by 20% although the amount of personal injury claims actually increased by 60% (Merton et al, 2013). If one considers that a high percentage of people who are now involved in accidents claim for personal injury coupled with the hypothesis that feigning injury for compensation is not viewed as a serious crime, this exemplifies how a fraudulent health claim can offer a lucrative and alternative avenue for potential fraudsters to exploit (Cartwright, Roach, Wood & Wood, 2014).…”

Section: The Uk: the Whiplash Capital Of The Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fraudulently Claiming Following a Road Traffic Accident: A Pilot Study of UK Residents’ Attitudes

Cartwright

Roach

2015

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

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The UK Government recently expressed concern regarding the financial repercussions that feigned whiplash claims following road traffic accidents (RTA) are having on the economy. Indeed, this is a problem that is a likely result of a significant percentage of otherwise law-abiding citizens, who interpret this behaviour to be victimless. Previous research has indicated that a substantial prevalence of malingering exists across a variety of contexts; however, establishing the ground truth is problematic. This paper presents an alternative approach that provides an insight into the problem of malingering following a RTA. 197 participants completed a hypothetical questionnaire that examined their likelihood of malingering either: depression, PTSD or whiplash following a RTA. The results suggest that a substantial percentage indicated they would be likely to malinger using either a partial malingering or false imputation strategy. Malingering following a RTA appears to be regarded with little severity and this paper discusses the implications.

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“…One situation which presents itself to those willing to commit this type of behaviour is the road traffic accident (RTA). Research has alluded to fraud being rife within UK RTA claims through figures illustrating that between 2006-2011 the number of RTAs reduced by 20%, whilst the number of personal injury claims because of such accidents increased by 60% (Merten et al, 2013). A similar paradox to the one outlined within RTA claims is also evident within UK disability claims through a 44% increase in claims whilst the average health status according to the Department for Health and Pensions continues to improve (Merten et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Knowledge of depression and malingering: An exploratory investigation

Cartwright

Donkin

2020

Eur. J. Psychol.

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Malingering mental disorder for financial compensation can offer substantial rewards to those willing to do so. A recent review of UK medico-legal experts’ practices for detecting claimants evidenced that they are not well equipped to detect those that do. This is not surprising, considering that very little is known regarding why individuals opt to malinger. A potential construct which may influence an individual’s choice to malinger is their knowledge of the disorder, and when one considers the high levels of depression literacy within the UK, it is imperative that this hypothesis is investigated. A brief depression knowledge scale was devised and administered to undergraduate students (n = 155) alongside a series of questions exploring how likely participants were to malinger in both workplace stress and claiming for benefit vignettes. Depression knowledge did not affect the likelihood of engaging in any malingering strategy in either the workplace stress vignettes or the benefit claimant vignettes. Differences were found between the two vignettes providing evidence for the context-specific nature of malingering, and an individual’s previous mental disorder was also influential.

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Symptom validity assessment in European countries: Development and state of the art

Cited by 24 publications

References 57 publications

An International Perspective on Feigned Mental Disabilities: Conceptual Issues and Continuing Controversies

An International Perspective on Feigned Mental Disabilities: Conceptual Issues and Continuing Controversies

Fraudulently Claiming Following a Road Traffic Accident: A Pilot Study of UK Residents’ Attitudes

Knowledge of depression and malingering: An exploratory investigation

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