ABSTRACT

An increasing awareness of the fact that children and adolescents can fake neuropsychological impairments and exaggerate symptoms under a variety of conditions (e.g., civil and criminal litigation, securing disability benefits) has fostered in psychologists and neuropsychologists a growing desire to develop reliable methods for the detection of symptom exaggeration and faked psychological disturbance in this population (Faust, Hart, & Guilmette, 1988; Faust, Hart, Guilmette, & Arkes, 1988; McCann, 1998; Reitan & Wolfson, 1997; Rogers, 1997). Traditionally, clinical judgment was relied upon in the detection of invalid test scores, but empirical research has shown that clinical intuition is not accurate in identifying malingering or symptom exaggeration in children and adolescents (Faust, Hart, & Guilmette, 1988). More objective and valid methods for assessing effort levels and symptom exaggeration are needed to assess the veracity of symptom complaints and exaggerated psychological impairments in minors (Green & Flaro, 2003). In this chapter, we will present cases illustrating the use of such measures in the identification of noncredible symptoms in a child and an adolescent.