Malingering
Definition
Intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated symptoms motivated by external incentives; a DSM-5 V-code (not a mental disorder) applicable when incentive and intentionality are both present.
- Definition
- Intentional production or exaggeration of symptoms
- Motivation
- External incentive
- DSM-5 classification
- V-code, not a mental disorder
- Requires
- Both incentive and intentionality present
Common questions
How is malingering distinguished from factitious disorder in a forensic evaluation?+
Malingering is driven by an external, recognisable incentive such as avoiding prosecution or gaining compensation, while factitious disorder involves symptom production without an obvious external reward, typically linked to an internal need to occupy the sick role.
What methods do evaluators use to detect malingering?+
Evaluators use validated symptom-validity and performance-validity tests, inconsistency between reported symptoms and observed behaviour, and comparison against known clinical patterns, since malingered presentations often deviate from genuine conditions.
Related terms
- Below-Chance Performance
- Performance on a two-alternative forced-choice task below the 50% chance level; statistically impossible through genuine impairment; meets SSI Criteria Group A for...
- Factitious Disorder
- Intentional production of symptoms motivated by psychological need to assume the sick role, without external incentive; distinct from malingering in motivation; not...
- M-FAST
- Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test; 25-item brief screen for feigned psychopathology; designed for jail and pretrial settings where full SIRS-2 is...
- MAL (Malingering Index)
- PAI configuration-based supplementary index developed for forensic populations to detect feigned psychopathology; used alongside NIM and clinical scales.
- Performance Validity Test (PVT)
- Any test designed to detect inadequate effort or deliberate underperformance in cognitive assessment; TOMM is the leading example for memory; embedded PVTs...
- Response Style
- The systematic approach an individual uses in reporting symptoms and behaviour during assessment; includes genuine, amplification, fabrication, defensiveness, and random responding.
- Rogers Detection of Deception Model
- Multi-source, hypothesis-testing framework for response-style assessment; requires convergent evidence from at least two data sources and explicit consideration of alternative hypotheses before...
- SIRS-2
- Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms, Second Edition; 172-item structured interview with eight primary scales for detecting feigned psychiatric symptoms; yields genuine, indeterminate,...
- Slick-Sherman-Iverson Criteria
- 1999 classification framework for Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction; four levels (Definite, Probable, Possible, Not MND) based on convergent evidence criteria.
- Symptom Amplification
- Exaggeration of genuine symptoms beyond their actual severity; common and does not automatically meet the malingering threshold; requires integration with all assessment...
- TOMM
- Test of Memory Malingering; 50-item forced-choice visual recognition task; Trial 2 score below 45/50 indicates performance invalidity; most widely validated memory PVT.