Using Symptom Validity Tests to Detect Malingered ADHD in College Students

Recently there has been growing concern that college students may feign symptoms of ADHD in order to obtain academic accommodations and stimulant medication. Unfortunately research has only begun to validate detection tools for malingered ADHD. The present study cross-validated the results of Sollma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical neuropsychologist 2011-11, Vol.25 (8), p.1415-1428
Main Authors: Jasinski, Lindsey J., Harp, Jordan P., Berry, David T. R., Shandera-Ochsner, Anne L., Mason, Lisa H., Ranseen, John D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ADHD
Adolescent
Analysis of Variance
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Humans
Male
Malingering
Malingering - diagnosis
Malingering - psychology
Medical sciences
Neuropsychological Tests
Predictive Value of Tests
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
ROC Curve
Self Report
Students
SVT
Symptom validity test
Techniques and methods
Universities
Young Adult
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Summary:Recently there has been growing concern that college students may feign symptoms of ADHD in order to obtain academic accommodations and stimulant medication. Unfortunately research has only begun to validate detection tools for malingered ADHD. The present study cross-validated the results of Sollman, Ranseen, and Berry (2010) on the efficacy of several symptom validity tests for detection of simulated ADHD among college students. Undergraduates with a history of diagnosed ADHD were randomly assigned either to respond honestly or exaggerate symptoms, and were compared to undergraduates with no history of ADHD or other psychiatric disorders who were also randomly assigned to respond honestly or feign symptoms of ADHD. Similar to Sollman et al. (2010) and other recent research on feigned ADHD, several symptom validity tests, including the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Letter Memory Test (LMT), Digit Memory Test (DMT), Nonverbal Medical Symptom Validity Test (NV-MSVT), and the b Test were reasonably successful at discriminating feigned and genuine ADHD. When considered as a group, the criterion of failure of 2 or more of these SVTs had a sensitivity of. 475 and a specificity of 1.00.
ISSN:1385-4046
1744-4144
DOI:10.1080/13854046.2011.630024