Simulation of Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms on the Personality Assessment Inventory

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize the operating characteristics of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) validity scales in distinguishing simulators feigning symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) while completing the PAI ( n = 84) from a clinical sample of patients with TBI who achieved adequate scores on performance validity tests ( n = 112). The simulators were divided into two groups: (a) Specific Simulators feigning cognitive and somatic symptoms only or (b) Global Simulators feigning cognitive, somatic, and psychiatric symptoms. The PAI overreporting scales were indeed sensitive to the simulation of TBI symptoms in this analogue design. However, these scales were less sensitive to the feigning of somatic and cognitive TBI symptoms than the feigning of a broad range of cognitive, somatic, and emotional symptoms often associated with TBI. The relationships of TBI simulation to consistency and underreporting scales are also explored.