Introduction

Litigants making disability, Worker’s Compensation or Personal Injury claims may be motivated to exaggerate or fake psychological symptoms in order to enhance the credibility of their claims. Several strategies have been employed to determine whether specific information can assist individuals in faking or exaggerating psychological symptoms while avoiding detection.  Some studies have shown that providing people with information about the specific symptoms of mental disorders can  increase the likelihood of successful exaggeration or faking. Another strategy, in which study participants are provided with information about the “validity scales” that are used to detect exaggeration or faking, does appear to improve an individual’s ability to dissimulate successfully.

The present article reviews a study published in 2002 that attempted to answer the question of whether litigants might be able to obtain information from the Internet that increases their likelihood of successful dissimulation of psychological symptoms.

Essential Findings

Five people were given the task of searching the internet for information that might assist them in faking depression during a psychological evaluation. Each of the five individuals identified between 40 and 100 web sites, some of which contained information that could interfere with the usefulness of some psychological tests or evaluations that depended on those tests. Identified web sites were divided into three threat categories: minimal, indirect and direct.

Approximately 75-80% of the web sites were designated as “Minimal Threat” and provided information that would be of very limited assistance to a person attempting to exaggerate or fake psychological symptoms. Web sites in this category mainly provided descriptions of mental disorders or psychological tests commonly used in psychological assessments. The authors of the study found that this type of information would not be helpful in improving a person’s ability to exaggerate or fake psychological symptoms while avoiding detection.

A smaller group of web sites posed what the authors called an “Indirect Threat” to psychological tests and assessments.  For example, information was found that described some of the procedures used in independent evaluations, some signs of malingering and the names of some psychological tests that could be used in a forensic psychological exam. Cases of suspected faking and methods used to identify malingering were discussed. Bookstores were identified where individuals could purchase materials describing tests often used in forensic examinations. Many of the web sites in this category were focused on enhancing communication and spreading knowledge among professionals. These web sites did not provide specific information about how to exaggerate or fake psychological symptoms.

A very small percentage of the web sites (about 2-5%) that were identified in this study contained information posing a “Direct Threat” to the integrity and security of some psychological tests and the examinations in which the tests might be used. Some of these web sites contained detailed information about specific tests commonly used in forensic psychological evaluations or specific information about how to fake symptoms on certain tests.

Conclusions

The majority of the web sites identified by five individuals searching the internet were found to contain information that posed only a minimal or indirect threat to the integrity of psychological tests commonly used in Independent Psychological Examinations. However, insurers and defense attorneys should be aware that a small number of web sites was found that could provide litigants who are untrained in psychological testing with information they could potentially use to malinger depressive conditions while escaping detection.

Limitations of this study

Three of the five individuals conducting the searches in this study were psychology graduate students who have advanced training in psychological testing. The typical litigant being psychologically evaluated does not possess this specialized knowledge and would probably not be able, as easily, to find and utilize information from the internet that would facilitate exaggeration or faking of psychological symptoms. In addition, according to a search I undertook while preparing this article,  there are  well in excess of one hundred thousand web sites currently available that discuss malingering of psychological symptoms. Only about 3/10ths of one percent of that number were identified in the current study. Therefore, it is almost certain that more information that could potentially threaten the integrity of psychological tests was not identified. In addition, some of the most threatening web sites may have been taken down since this 2002 study was completed.

Reference