Antisocial Personality Disorder and the Malingering of Psychiatric Disorder: A Study of Criminal Defendants

Abstract

Criminal defendants with antisocial personality disorder (APD), those with a personality disorder other than APD (OPD) and those without a personality disorder (NoPD) were compared on validated measures of malingering. The APD group scored significantly higher on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory- 2(MMPI-2) F, Fp, and F-K scales and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Negative Impression Scale. A greater proportion of those in the APD group exceeded accepted cutoff scores on the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) scale. While this finding supports the DSM-IV association between APD and malingering, the predictive utility of APD in discriminating malingerers from honest responders was poor, with many with APD not attempting to malinger and those without APD presenting potentially malingered profiles.