One-Minute SVT? The V-5 Is A Stronger Predictor Of Symptom Exaggeration Than Self-Reported Trauma History

To examine the potential of the Five-Variable Psychiatric Screener (V-5) to serve as an embedded symptom validity test (SVT). In Study 1, 43 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to a control or an experimental malingering condition. In Study 2, 150 undergraduate students were recruited to examine the cognitive and emotional sequelae of self-reported trauma history. The classification accuracy of the V-5 was computed against the Inventory of Problems (IOP-29), a free-standing SVT. In Study 1, the V-5 was a poor predictor of experimental malingering status, but produced a high overall classification against the IOP-29. In Study 2, the V-5 was a stronger predictor of IOP-29 than self-reported trauma history. Results provide preliminary support for the utility of the V-5 as an embedded SVT. Given the combination of growing awareness of the need to determine the credibility of subjective symptom report using objective empirical methods and systemic pressures to abbreviate assessment, research on SVTs within rapid assessment instruments can provide practical psychometric solutions to this dilemma.