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Abstract
Previous research suggests that victims of violent crime who have applied for state compensation may persist in malingering after conclusion of the application process. To further explore this topic, the current study investigated differences in PTSD symptomatology between violent crime victims who had received compensation from the Dutch state and those who had been denied such compensation. Potential participants were approached through the Dutch Violent Offences Compensation Fund. Eventually, 125 victims agreed to participate and filled out a set of paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that recipients of compensation had reported higher symptom levels, than non-recipients but only when they could be qualified as probable malingerers. If compensation recipients could not be qualified as probable malingerers, they had reported lower symptom levels than non-recipients. This suggests that some victims will emotionally benefit from compensation, while others will unconsciously accept it as a validation of initially malingered symptoms. Results were discussed in terms of directions for future research and study limitations.
Notes
1. With this term we refer to symptom overreporting or misattribution of symptoms to a particular event which is no longer functional to obtain external benefits. We prefer to use this term rather than the term ‘residual effect of malingering,’ because it leaves open the possibility that intra-individual malingering levels do not decrease over time.
2. A more extensive description of background differences between study participants and non-participants can be found in Kunst et al. (Citation2011).
3. A more extensive description of the data collection process has been published previously (see Kunst, Winkel, et al. Citation2010, Citation2011).