Date of Award
8-1-2011
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
DiLalla, David
Abstract
The Malingered Depression Scale (Md Scale; Steffan, Clopton, & Morgan, 2003) was recently developed for use with the MMPI-2 in attempts to distinguish individuals with genuine symptoms of depression from individuals who feign depression on the test. With respect to the Md scale, a relative lack of research and mixed findings regarding its utility are problematic; therefore, these issues were explored. The predictive and incremental validity of the Md scale were tested in this study to determine if use of the Md scale conferred a distinct predictive advantage over standard validity scales (e.g. F, FB, FP) in the differentiation between participants instructed to feign depression and participants who, prior to taking the MMPI-2, endorsed a significant number of depressive symptoms on a self-report measure. The Md scale demonstrated predictive and incremental validity in this study in distinguishing the two groups; however several limitations arose regarding use of the Md scale, most notably conceptual clarity within participant groups and problems regarding the use of cut scores.
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