Memory Complaints Inventory and Symptom Validity Test Performance in a Clinical Sample

Previous work in a disability-seeking sample has demonstrated that as symptom validity test (SVT) scores decline, there is a corresponding increase in subjective reports of memory problems as measured by the Memory Complaints Inventory (MCI). The current archival study examined this relationship in a clinical sample of active and retired military service members and their adult family members without overt potential for secondary gain (n= 191). General support for the previously evidenced relationship between SVT performances and MCI responses was found. Select MCI subscales (i.e., Amnesia for Complex Behavior and Amnesia for Antisocial Behavior) were not as strongly correlated with SVT scores as in the previously studied disability-seeking groups. The relationship between performances on an embedded effort measure and MCI scores was not nearly as robust as the relationship between MCI profiles and stand-alone SVTs. The potential clinical implications for these findings are discussed.