¿Disimulan los progenitores en litigio por la custodia en el 16 PF-5?

Abstract

Forensic evaluation of parents litigating for custody comprises the assessment of the parental attributes and of favourable self-reporting. As for this, a multi-method evaluation approach is adopted, including psychometric tests, particularly the 16 PF-5 as a reference questionnaire. With the aim of knowing if the litigant parents are able to present a self-favorable report on the 16 PF-5, the strategies followed to fake good, and the effects of faking good on the primary and global scales, 488 parents, 244 in child custody litigation and 244 parents under standard instructions, answered the Spanish adaptation of the 16 PF-5. The results showed that litigant parents biased their responses; that they manipulated their impression and avoided infrequent responses; and that their manipulation is related to the exaggeration of positive attributes and the concealment or denial of the negative ones. The implications of the findings for forensic psychologist practice are discussed.