Raising the red flag: an examination of elevation rates of the PAI validity indices in an Australian worker's compensation sample

A worker’s compensation examination demands that the psychologist consider the possibility of malingering. The PAI is a multi-scale inventory which is increasingly being used in civil and forensic assessments, in part because of the robust validity indices that it offers. This paper examines elevation rates , and profile patterns of six hundred PAI’s which were completed as part of a pre-liability worker’s compensation assessment in Queensland and New South Wales. Elevation rates on the MAL, RDF and NIM indices of the Personality Assessment Inventory provide an indication of the rates of negative distortion in this particular population. Whilst the majority of individuals presenting for worker’s compensation do not in fact elevate these indices, clinical scale profiles and demographic features may provide some insight into those that do.