Damages and rewards: assessment of malingered disorders in compensation cases

The assessment of malingering poses unique challenges to forensic practitioners in compensation cases and disability determinations. Beyond malingering itself, false claims can be presented regarding both the source of genuine symptoms and their injurious effects on work and social functioning. The article examines how contextually based psychological factors can affect clients' presentation in compensation cases. Important distinctions between different types of response style (e.g. malingering, feigning, and secondary gain) are presented. In addition, empirically validated detection strategies provide a clinical framework for the assessment of feigned disorders. With an emphasis on compensation cases and clinically relevant disorders, the effectiveness of these detection strategies is considered for specific psychological measures.