Development and Preliminary Validation of a Forced-Choice Test of Response Bias for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

This article describes the development and preliminary validation of the Morel Emotional Numbing Test for PTSD (MENT), a forced-choice test for detecting response bias in assessments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The differences in MENT error rates among four groups of military veterans applying for monetary compensation for combat-related PTSD and two groups of hospitalized military veterans were investigated (N = 102): (a) disability claimants with veritable self-presentations, who were diagnosed with PTSD; (b) disability claimants with veritable self-presentations, who were not diagnosed with PTSD; (c) older disability claimants (age 63 or older) with veritable self-presentations; (d) disability claimants with suspect self-presentations; (e) chemical-dependent inpatients; and (f) schizophrenic inpatients. Veritable versus suspect grouping among disability claimants was determined by examining MMPI-2F-K dissimulation index scores. The results indicated that the suspect group produced more errors on the MENT than the credible groups or the hospitalized patient group (p < .0001). Clinical decision rules were used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of the MENT to identify malingering in the claimant groups. The overall efficiency or hit rate on the MENT was 95.6%.