Malingering in ADHD and the use of symptom validity tests in neuropsychological assessment.

Secondairy gains play an important role in aggravation and simulation of
psychiatric complaints, also called malingering. On neuropsychological
assessment this can lead to testscores below expectations or chance-level, due
to suboptimal effort.
Recent research shows that within psychiatry 41 % of the patients that seek
treatment expect to have secundairy gains from a psychiatric diagnose (Van
Egmond 2005.) It is estimated that the prevalence of suboptimal effort and
aggravation in the diagnosis of ADHD is 47,6 %. Suboptimal effort and
malingering can be measured with symptom validity tests, but the clinical use
of these tests by patients with ADHD is not researched yet.

Investigation of sensitivity and specificity of symptom validity tests for
clinical use in neuropsychological assessment by patients with ADHD.
Calculating measures that are indicative of suboptimal effort in regular
neuropsychological tests for attention and memory.

A comparative study on testperformance of patients diagnosed with ADHD (N=100)
and a group of healthy controls.(N=100). Both groups are subdivided into two
conditions; a malingerconditon (N=50) and an optimal effort condition (N=50).
The administered tests are symptom validity tests and regular tests for
attention and memory. Also diagnose specific questionnaires will be
administered. A pilot study will be conducted to verify if patients with
objective cognitive dysfunction can pass the symptom validity tests.

- SCL-90; questionnaire for psychiatric complaints.
- BDI; questionnaire for major depression.
- Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure -Rev. 2; test that
measures suffering.
- Continuous Performance Test; Computer test that measures reaction time and
inhibition.
- Stroop Test; Test that measures attention and distraction.
- Amsterdamse Korte Termijn Geheugen Test (AKTG); Test that measures symptom
validity.
- Word Memory Test; Computer test that measures memory and also has an index
for suboptimal effort.
- Structured Inventory for Malingered Symptoms; Questionnaire of symptom
validity.
- Wender Utah Rating Scale; Questionnaire for diagnosis of ADHD en ADD.
- Strategy questionnaire; Questionnaire that asks for applied strategy of
malingering.

The research has no burdens. An Iris cheque of ten euro is rewarded as a gift
for participation.