Correlations Among the TOMM, Rey-15, and MMPI-2 Validity Scales in a Sample of TBI Litigants

The importance of the detection of possible symptom exaggeration/malingering has gained increased attention among neuropsychologists, and as a result, a number of techniques have been developed for the identification of suspected malingering. The goal of this study was to examine the extent towhich several of these commonly used techniques correlate with one another in a clinical sample. Archival data on 97 litigants were analyzed, and scores on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Rey 15-Item Test (Rey-15), and MMPI-2 validity scales were compared. The MMPI-2 validity scales did not positively correlate with any trial on the TOMM or with the Rey-15, with the exception of the Fb scale which significantly negatively correlated with TOMM trial 1. The results of the present study suggest that the MMPI-2 validity scales are measuring a different construct than tests of malingered memory deficits, and therefore should be interpreted cautiously in forensic evaluations.