Our study involved three samples (N = 85; N = 38, and N = 27) of asylum seekers in a Dutch psychiatric hospital. We looked at how often they reported severe dissociative episodes (i.e., not recognizing oneself in a mirror; seeing traumatic images in a mirror) and whether these symptoms were related to deviant performance on Symptom Validity Tests (SVTs), notably items from the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS; Widows & Smith, 2005) and a forced-choice task modeled after the Morel Emotional Numbing Test (MENT; Morel, 1998). We also examined whether poor language proficiency and the presence of incentives to exaggerate symptoms might affect scores on SVTs. Dissociative target symptoms were reported by considerable percentages of patients (27–63%). Patients who reported these symptoms had significantly more often deviant scores on SVT items compared with those who did not report such symptoms. With a few exceptions, deviant scores on SVT items were associated with incentives rather than poor language skills. We conclude that the validity of self-reported symptoms in this target group should not be taken for granted and that SVTs may yield important information. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Transcultural psychiatry Symptom over-reporting Symptom validity tests Refugees, asylum seekers

Netherlands validity malingering refugee dissociative disorder Dissociative Disorders human Refugees middle aged Behavioral Symptoms statistics and numerical data language ethnology Psychological Tests Mental Disorders mental disease asylum seeker Young Adult Humans psychology Adolescent male female psychological rating scale Behavior Psychiatric Status Rating Scales symptom cultural psychiatry psychologic test major clinical study adult dissociation mental hospital skill widow Hospitals, Psychiatric