Comparison of the Fake Bad Scale and other MMPI-2 validity scales with personal injury litigants

Five MMPI-2 validity scales were evaluated with 120 personal injury litigation patients (LP) and 208 clinical patients (CP) along with 43 normal participants (NP). The validity measures included the Fake Bad Scale (FBS), Infrequency scale (F), Back Infrequency scale (Fb), Infrequency-Psychopathology scale (F-[p]), and the Dissimulation scale-2 (Ds(2)). Results showed that only the FBS significantly differentiated the LP and CP, whereas the LP and CP scored significantly higher than the NP on FBS, F, Fb, and Ds(2). The content of the FBS, with several items from the Hypochondriasis (Hs) and Hysteria (Hy) Scales, appears to enhance the FBS' ability to detect the somatic overreporting often observed with personal injury claimants. The authors suggest that the FBS may be a useful index of symptom magnification when employed within a comprehensive assessment of malingering in personal injury plaintiffs.