Detecting depression and malingering using response times on the Personality Assessment Inventory

Abstract

The detection of individuals who are malingering psychological dysfunction has proven to be a difficult task (Rogers, 1997). This study was conducted to investigate whether response times on the Personality Assessment Inventory could differentiate among asymptomatic controls (n = 15), clinically depressed individuals (n = 12), and a group instructed to malinger depression (n = 19). Conventional responses and item response latencies were recorded for the Negative Impression, Positive Impression, Depression - Affective, Depression — Cognitive, and Depression - Physiological scales. Discriminant function analyses revealed that conventional scores correctly classified 100% of the controls, 91.7% o f the depressed, and 73.7% of the malingerers. Standardized response latencies correctly classified 73.3% of controls, 58.3% of depressed, and 84.2% of malingerers. Classification rates for raw response latencies were 73.3%, 50.0%, and 78.9% respectively. Finally, a new scale composed of items from the above subscales maxim ally discrim inating malingerers from depressed individuals could correctly classify 100% o f depressed and 91.7% of malingerers. These findings are consistent with other research (Fekken & Holden, 1994) suggesting that response latencies might provide meaningful information.