Assessing dissimulation among Social Security disability income claimants

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychology
• Social Policy

Background:

• Concerns about fraud in Social Security disability income programs are increasing.
• Psychological disability claims are particularly susceptible to malingering.
• There is a need for reliable methods to assess malingering in disability evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate malingering among psychological disability claimants.
• To develop and validate a psychometric instrument for detecting malingering.
• To establish a critical score for identifying malingerers.

Main Methods:

• A review of 100 disability income applications informed instrument development.
• The Composite Disability Malingering Index was administered to disability claimants, disabled non-malingerers, and instructed malingerers.
• Established psychometric indices of malingering were used to create the index.

Main Results:

• A critical score of 8 was established, based on the convergence of instructed malingerer scores and the 95th percentile of disabled non-malingerers.
• The Composite Disability Malingering Index identified 19% (32 out of 167) of disability claimants as malingering.
• Self-reported substance abuse history was the sole significant predictor of higher malingering scores.

Conclusions:

• The Composite Disability Malingering Index is a valid tool for detecting malingering in psychological disability claims.
• The findings highlight the prevalence of malingering and the importance of accurate assessment.
• Identifying predictors like substance abuse can aid in the evaluation process.