Detecting negative response bias with the Fake Bad Scale, Response Bias Scale, and Henry-Heilbronner Index of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2.

The 28-item Response Bias Scale (RBS) and 15-item Henry-Heilbronner Index (HHI) are new validity scales within the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, designed to detect over-reporting of cognitive and somatic symptomology, respectively. The 43-item Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale (FBS) was designed to detect noncredible symptom presentations within a personal injury setting. The current study examined the predictive validity of these scales in a criterion-groups design involving head-injured litigants. Archival data were collected and two groups were created using the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson ([1999]. Diagnostic criteria for malingered neurocognitive dysfunction: Proposed standards for clinical practice and research. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 13, 545-561) Criteria for Probable Negative Response Bias. Results yielded excellent to acceptable discrimination ability for the validity scales, including an area under the curve of 0.83 for FBS, 0.82 for RBS, and 0.73 for HHI. Findings suggest that the FBS, RBS, and HHI perform as well as the other validity scales in discriminating over-reporting within a head-injured litigant setting.