Clinical presentation of malingerers diagnosed by experienced forensic psychologists

Little is known about the incidence of malingering or the diagnostic criteria for malingering employed by forensic clinical psychologists conducting pretrial evaluations for the criminal justice system. The clinical presentations of 39 criminal defendants diagnosed as malingering psychotic symptoms were contrasted with 25 defendants diagnosed as genuinely psychotic. The incidence of diagnosed malingering was 8% in a series of 314 consecutive evaluations. Malingerers differed from psychotics on 14 of 24 clinical presentation variables, including measures of general presentation, affect, hallucinations, delusions, and formal thought disorder. Results indicate consistent clinical features associated with the diagnosis of malingered psychosis.A summary of this study was presented at the 1988 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Atlanta, Georgia. We very much appreciate the contribution made by the six forensic clinical psychologists at the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry who volunteered to participate in this study.