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Abstract
Symptom-dissimulation is not uncommon in compensation-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) evaluations. The questionable veracity of client-reported PTSD symptomology increases evaluative and diagnostic complexity. Individuals with erroneous PTSD diagnoses consume already overwhelmed government expensed and burden healthcare systems. Reliable and clinically feasible tools for discriminating PTSD feigning currently lack. This study examined the utility of a modified Stroop protocol and spontaneous recall in differentiating PTSD simulators (n = 31), individuals with motor-vehicle accident (MVA)-related PTSD (n = 6), and controls (n = 28). Analysis of Stroop performance indicated that processing speed for MVA-related words significantly differed by group; in that, interference scores were highest in the PTSD group and lowest in controls. Recall was highest in participants with PTSD, lowest in PTSD simulators, and positively related to scores on the Clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS). Results were modest; however, applied feasibility and relative resilience to coaching support further examination of modified-Stroop and spontaneous recall tasks as means of assessing PTSD symptom dissimulation.