Failings of trauma-specific and related psychological tests in detecting post-traumatic stress disorder in forensic...

Judges and juries tend to be particularly impressed by test data, especially quantitative test data. Psychometric tests specific for assessing the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are commonly employed by forensic mental health evaluators. Most of these instruments, however, have been designed to detect PTSD in treatment or research, and not forensic, settings. Those who rely on these measures without adequate awareness of their often significant limits in correctly identifying malingering may induce finders of fact to inordinately confidently accept the presence of PTSD. This article reviews problematic structural and content components of trauma-specific and related instruments used to evaluate PTSD and discusses the utility of specific techniques liable to be used in forensic settings to "fool" these measures.