Does Clinical Training Facilitate Feigning Schizophrenia on the MMPI-2? Bagby, R.M., Rogers, R., Nicholson, R., Buis,T, Seeman, M.V., Rector N. (1997)

Does Clinical Training Facilitate Feigning Schizophrenia on the

MMPI-2?Bagby, R.M., Rogers, R., Nicholson, R., Buis,T, Seeman, M.V., Rector N.

(1997). Does clinical training facilitate schizophrenia on the MMPI-2. Psychological Assessment, 9(2), 106-112.

Presented by

Valerie Gutierrez, Vynette Moore &

April Osback

Bagby, R.M., Rogers, R., Nicholson, R., Buis, T., Seeman, M.V., Rector, N. (1997). Does clinical training facilitate schizophrenia on the MMPI-2. Psychological Assessment, 9(2), 106-112.

Research Question

• Study assessed the effect of knowledge of psychopathology and psychological testing on the ability to feign schizophrenia on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2


Previous Research• Differences among the groups of malingering participants were not

significant and were similar to those found for persons asked to malinger in previous studies (Graham, Watts & Timbrook, 1991; Wetter, Baer, Berry, Robison & Sumpter, 1993)

• Asked patients with specific mental disorders to feign a more severe episode (Rogers, Sewell, & Ustad, 1995)– Advantage: makes use of persons with direct experience with a particular

disorder

• Asked persons without diagnosed mental disorders, but who have different levels of knowledge about psychopathology, to feign specific mental disorders (Rogers, Ornduff, & Sewell, 1993)


Hypothesis• Two clinically trained groups would be

more successful at feigning schizophrenia that the undergrad students

• Of the two clinically trained groups, the clinical psychology grad students would be more successful at feigning schizophrenia than psychiatric residents and fellows


Sample Critique & Technique• 4 Samples:

– Clinical Psychology Grad Students– Psychiatric Residents and Fellows– Undergraduate Psychology Students– Patients with Schizophrenia

• Convenience Sampling


Variables• 1 DV

– MMPI-2 scores• 3 IV’s

– Clinically Trained• Clinical Psychology Grad Students• Psychiatric Residents and Fellows

– No Clinical Training• Undergrad Psychology Students

– Control• Patients with Schizophrenia


Control Variables

• Exclusion Criteria: for patient sample and malingering groups was a True Response Inconsistency Scale (TRIN)

• Standard instruction for all participants


Data Analysis• Multivariate ANOVA

– - to assess overall group differences for the clinical scales and validity indicators

• Univariate F tests

• Scheffé procedure

- to assess the differences between pairs of groups

• Hierarchical regression analyses

– to identify those validity indicators beyond the traditional F scale that were able to distinguish between the sample of patients with schizophrenia and each of the 3 malingering groups


Results

• Significant Multivariate effects were found for:– 10 CLINICAL SCALES

• F(27, 342.34) = 7.67, P < .001.

– VALIDITY INDICATORS• F(21, 342.25) = 9.04, P < .001.


Design Type

• Quasi-Experimental– IV not manipulated, but there were 3 groups

• Between Subjects– Comparison between 3 groups

• Factorial– 3 IV’s


Authors’ Interpretations

• Undergrad psychology students and clinically trained persons with advances training in psychopathology and psychological testing tend to over endorse symptoms associated with schizophrenia when directed to feign that disorder

• Individuals with limited clinical training and knowledge of psychopathology tend to over endorse symptoms that may not be specific to that disorder


Limitations• Participants recruited from only one university and one registry

• No random sampling

• Small sample size

• Male/female ratio uneven

• Large range of experience with the MMPI-2 in the sample of grad students, which has the potential to compromise the integrity of the internal validity of the study

• Use actual patients suffering from Schizophrenia as opposed to out- patients who are in the residual phase of their illness


Critical Review

• Interesting points made by authors– All groups over emphasized the symptoms of

schizophrenia– Even mental health professionals have

difficulty in feigning psychopathology successfully on the MMPI-2


Critical Review

• Questionable Arguments made by Authors– Claims that individuals knowledgeable about psychopathology

tend to over endorse symptoms thought to be features of a specific disorder, but at the same time says that they are able to refrain from endorsing symptoms

– The authors claims that their findings are significant based on a p < .001 scale

• If this was done on another scale (e.g. p < .05) their findings

might not have been significant


Conclusion

• Clinically trained participants produced generally lower scores on the clinical scales and validity indicators than did the undergrad students

• The scores for the clinical scales were higher for all groups asked to feign schizophrenia when compared with the schizophrenic sample


Discussion

• What might have been a better way to obtain a sample being that the sample is not representative of the greater population?

• Although it was stated that some participants had limited familiarity with the MMPI-2, do you think this bias had any effect on the results?

The End

Documents

Does Clinical Training Facilitate Feigning Schizophrenia on the MMPI-2? Bagby, R.M., Rogers, R., Nicholson, R., Buis,T, Seeman, M.V., Rector N. (1997)