The role of performance validity tests in the assessment of cognitive functioning after military concussion: A replication and extension.

The current investigation is a replication and extension of a previously published study by Cooper, Vanderploeg, Armistead-Jehle, Lewis, and Bowles (2014) demonstrating that performance validity test scores accounted for more variance in cognitive testing among service members with a history of concussion than did demographic variables, etiology of and time since injury, and symptom severity. The present study included a sample of 142 active-duty service members evaluated following a suspected or confirmed history of mild traumatic brain injury. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological measures that included scales of performance and symptom validity (specifically the Medical Symptom Validity Test, Nonverbal Medical Symptom Validity Test, and Personality Assessment Inventory). Among the factors considered in the current study, performance validity test results accounted for the most variance in cognitive test scores, above demographic, concussion history, symptom validity, and psychological distress variables. Performance validity test results were modestly related to symptom validity as measured by the Personality Assessment Inventory Negative Impression Management scale. In sum, the current results replicated the original Cooper et al. study and highlight the importance of including performance validity tests as part of neurocognitive evaluation, even in clinical contexts, within this population.

Profile analyses of the Personality Assessment Inventory following military-related traumatic brain injury.

Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) profiles were examined in 160 U.S. service members (SMs) following mild-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants who sustained a mild TBI had significantly higher PAI scores than those with moderate-severe TBI on eight of the nine clinical scales examined. A two-step cluster analysis identified four PAI profiles, heuristically labeled "High Distress", "Moderate Distress", "Somatic Distress," and "No Distress". Postconcussive and posttraumatic stress symptom severity was highest for the High Distress group, followed by the Somatic and Moderate Distress groups, and the No Distress group. Profile groups differed in age, ethnicity, rank, and TBI severity. Findings indicate that meaningful patterns of behavioral and personality characteristics can be detected in active duty military SMs following TBI, which may prove useful in selecting the most efficacious rehabilitation strategies.

The Personality Assessment Inventory in individuals with traumatic brain injury.

This study examined the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in 95 individuals who had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants were recruited from a rehabilitation hospital (n=60) and a military hospital (n=35); despite differences in demographics and injury characteristics groups did not differ on any of the clinical scales and were thus combined. In the combined group, the highest mean clinical scale elevations were on Somatic Complaints, Depression, and Borderline Features and the most common configural profiles, based on cluster analysis, were Cluster 1 (no prominent elevations), Cluster 6 (social isolation and confused thinking), and Cluster 2 (depression and withdrawal). Factor analysis indicated a robust three-factor solution that accounted for 74.86 percent of the variance and was similar to findings from the psychiatric and non-psychiatric populations in the standardization sample. The above findings are compared with the previous literature on psychopathology in TBI, particularly in regards to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), as well as previous psychometric research on the PAI.