Validation of the MMPI-2 Response Bias Scale and Henry-Heilbronner Index in a U.S. Veteran Population

Abstract

The Response Bias Scale (RBS) and the Henry-Heilbronner Index (HHI) are two recently developed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) validity scales empirically derived for the purpose of detecting feigned symptom report. Utilizing a veteran sample, the present study examined the utility of these and other MMPI-2 validity scales in predicting Word Memory Test (WMT) failure and presence of recent, current, or upcoming compensation evaluation. Although a significant predictor of WMT performance, RBS did not show incremental validity over Infrequency scale of the MMPI-2 in prediction of WMT failure and was not significantly associated with membership in the "Compensation-Context" (CC) group. In contrast, HHI best predicted CC group membership, but only trended toward significance in predicting WMT failure. In predicting CC group membership, HHI showed incremental validity above the established MMPI-2 validity scales, but its specificity was low. In the context of current literature on RBS and HHI, results support continued use of RBS and HHI but suggest that these scales may perform differently in samples other than the compensation-seeking samples on which they were developed.