دقت تشخیصی پرسشنامه ساختار یافته از اختلالات تمارضی (SIMS) در تشخیص تمارض آموزش داده شده

This article addresses the psychometric properties of the Dutch translation of the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) when administered to undergraduate psychology students as well as psychiatric inpatients. Findings show that this SIMS version possesses good test–retest reliability and internal consistency. Also, simulation findings indicate that undergraduate students instructed to simulate pathology display higher SIMS scores than either normal controls or psychiatric inpatients. Data pooled over several samples (n=298) yielded sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive power (PPP) rates that were all relatively high (≥0.90). All in all, our findings provide a basis for cautious optimism regarding the usefulness of the SIMS as a screening tool for malingering.

The Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS; Smith, 1997 and Smith & Burger, 1997) is a self-report measure designed to screen for malingering of psychiatric symptoms (e.g., depression and psychosis) and/or cognitive impairments (e.g., low intelligence and memory complaints). The SIMS consists of 75 dichotomous (i.e., true–false) items that can be grouped into five subscales, each subscale containing 15 items. Subscales tap malingered symptoms in several areas. More specifically, they focus on the following domains: low intelligence (LI), affective disorders (AF), neurological impairment (N), psychosis (P), and amnestic disorders (AM). Strategies used to detect deviant or malingered response patterns include endorsement of bizarre experiences (e.g., “Sometimes my muscles go limp for no apparent reason so that my arms and legs feel as though they weigh a ton” from the N scale), highly atypical symptoms (e.g., “At times, I am so depressed I welcome going to bed early to ‘sleep it off”’ from the AF scale), and Ganser-like (i.e., approximate) answers (e.g., “If you have US$1.50 and I take fifty cents away, you will have 75 cents left” from the LI scale).