Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1057-1060
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Failure to detect fabricated posttraumatic stress disorder with the use of the MMPI in a clinical population
ST Perconte and AJ Goreczny
Highland Drive VA Medical Center, Psychology Service, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
The authors attempted to replicate previous studies that used the Frequency
(F) scale and the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subscale of the MMPI
to discriminate Vietnam veterans with PTSD from well-adjusted veterans and
mental health professionals who feigned symptoms of PTSD. Profiles of
veterans with PTSD were compared to those of veterans with non-PTSD
psychiatric disorders and veterans with fabricated PTSD symptoms who sought
treatment. Discriminant analysis of F scale and PTSD subscale scores
correctly identified only 43.59% of the subjects, thus failing to support
use of the MMPI in detecting fabricated symptoms of PTSD in a clinical
population.
