Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34868478›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of psychotraumatology2021

The utility of the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology for distinguishing individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) from DID simulators and healthy controls.

Bethany L Brand, Michelle Barth, Yolanda R Schlumpf, Hugo Schielke, Sima Chalavi, Eline M Vissia, Ellert R S Nijenhuis, Lutz Jäncke, Antje A T S Reinders

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of psychotraumatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.

Bethany L BrandPsychology Department, Towson University, Towson, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-0377-2770
Michelle BarthPsychology Department, Towson University, Towson, United States.
Yolanda R SchlumpfDivision of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-5754-2113
Hugo SchielkeTraumatic Stress Injury & Concurrent Program, Homewood Health Centre, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4786-8080
Sima ChalaviResearch Centre for Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Department of Movement Sciences, Ku Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Eline M VissiaHeelzorg, Centre for Psychotrauma, Zwolle, Netherlands.
Ellert R S NijenhuisClienia Littenheid AG, Private Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Littenheid, Switzerland.
Lutz JänckeDepartment of Psychology, Research Unit for Plasticity and Learning of the Healthy Aging Brain, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Antje A T S ReindersDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Towson University · USUniversity of Zurich · CHHomewood Research Institute · CAKing's College London · GBKU Leuven · BE

Funding

Department of Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Individuals with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have complex symptoms consistent with severe traumatic reactions. Clinicians and forensic assessors are challenged by distinguishing symptom exaggeration and feigning from genuine symptoms among these individuals. This task may be aided by administering validity measures. Objective: This study aimed to document how individuals with DID score on the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS). The second objective was to compare coached DID simulators and healthy controls to DID patients on the SIMS's total score and subscales. The third objective was to examine the utility rates of the SIMS in distinguishing simulated DID from clinically diagnosed DID. Method: We compared SIMS data gathered from participants from two Dutch sites, one Swiss site and one U.S. site. Sixty-three DID patients were compared to 77 coached DID simulators and 64 healthy controls on the SIMS. A multivariate analysis compared the groups on the SIMS total scores and subscales, and post-hoc Games Howell tests and univariate ANOVAs examined differences between the groups. Utility statistics assessed the accuracy of the SIMS in distinguishing clinical from simulated DID. Results: DID simulators scored significantly higher than DID individuals and healthy controls on every SIMS subscale as well as the total score. The majority (85.7%) of the individuals with DID scored above the cut-off, which is typically interpreted as indicative of possible symptom exaggeration. DID individuals scored higher than the healthy controls on every subscale except Low Intelligence, even after controlling for dissociation. The subscales and items most frequently endorsed by the DID group are consistent with symptoms associated with complex trauma exposure and dissociative reactions. The SIMS total score had a sensitivity of 96% but an unacceptably low specificity of 14%. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the instrument is not accurate in assessing potential symptom exaggeration or feigning in DID.

Indexed as

AdultDissociative Identity DisorderFemaleHumansMaleMalingeringMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsYoung AdultdissociationexaggerationfeigningmalingeringSIMSsimulationStructured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatologytrauma

Identifiers

PMID34868478
PMCPMC8635606
OpenAlexW3216220182

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.