A CAUTIONARY NOTE ON THE DETERMINATION OF MALINGERING IN OFFENDERS

The detection of genuine or feigned presentations of mental disorder i s an important task for the forensic clinician. An empirically devised measure to detect malingering, the Structured Interview of Reported S ymptoms (SIRS; Rogers et al., 1992), has shown promise in classifying participants as feigning. The SIRS format is a structured interview si tuation with primary and supplementary scales which represent measures of strategies observed when individuals' feign symptoms of mental dis order. The present paper examines the extent to which SIRS data is inf luenced by a number of psychological variables inherent in closed soci al interview situations and the effects of these variables on probabil ity estimates of feigning in a sample of prisoners referred to a mediu m secure unit. Results show that a number of the SIRS scales were sign ificantly influenced by acquiescent responding, interrogative suggesti bility and intelligence. Discriminant analysis demonstrated that acqui escent responding and the tendency to yield to questions presented ver bally significantly predicted probability of classification as malinge ring on the basis of stringent criteria using both SIRS data and MMPI- 2 validity indices. A high rate of false positives (79%) were identifi ed in the malingering group. The relevance of the findings are discuss ed in relation to the use of the SIPS and the assessment of feigned pr esentations of mental disorder.