THE POTENTIAL FOR FAKING ON THE MISSISSIPPI SCALE FOR COMBAT-RELATED PTSD

The Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD is widely used in the as sessment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The high face-valid ity of the scale may make it vulnerable to faking, however. The presen t study found that the scores of individuals instructed to respond ''a s if'' they had PTSD did not differ from the scores of veterans with P TSD. Furthermore, although veterans who were diagnosed as having PTSD were found to have significantly higher Mississippi Scale scores than those who did not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD, the mean score fo r all groups (veteran and non-veteran) exceeded the originally recomme nded diagnostic cut-off score of 107. A cutoff score of 121 was found to best differentiate veterans with PTSD from veterans who did not mee t diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis, with high sensitivity but rel atively low specificity.