AAFP Workshop: Malingering in Forensic Evaluations

Presented by Michael Vitacco, PhD, ABPP

Thursday, February 25, 2021

9:00 am - 1:00 pm PST

4 CEs / CEUs

This course offers guidance on legal and practical implications of evaluating response styles in forensic evaluations. During this seminar, several key aspects of evaluating for malingering in forensic evaluations will be reviewed. Specific issues include a critical review of diagnostic criteria for malingering from DSM-5, discuss how courts have dealt with malingering, and review several commonly used instruments designed to detect feigning. When reviewing instruments pros and cons of each instrument will be discussed with an overview of their psychometric properties. Ethical and cultural considerations will be integrated throughout the seminar with relevance to civil and criminal forensic work.  

Upon completion of this program, participants should be able to:

• Describe malingering and the criteria in the DSM-5,
• Identify legal and clinical implications of malingering, including recent court cases that addressed malingering,
• List at least two instruments and scales designed to detect feigning and their psychometric properties,
• Cite research on potential cultural differences with respect to symptom presentation, and
• Describe the research for detecting malingering in special populations, including individuals with intellectual disabilities.