A - 125 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Severity and its Relationship to Performance on the Test of Memory Malingering in a Veteran Sample.

OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) trials in veterans without a diagnosis of neurocognitive disorder.

METHOD: A sample of 47 clinically-referred veterans (80.9% male; Mage = 57.47, SD = 14.83; Medu = 13.91, SD = 2.5) who did not meet criteria for a neurocognitive disorder completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the TOMM. Primary diagnoses included PTSD (48.9%), no diagnosis (23.4%), and depression (19.1%). A cutoff of 45 was used for each trial; 47 completed Trial 1 (TOMM-T1), 17 completed Trial 2 (TOMM-T2), and 10 completed Retention Trial (TOMM-Ret). Nine participants (19.1%) failed the TOMM. Analyses included Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, and independent-samples t-tests. Age was negatively correlated with PCL-5 and positively correlated with TOMM-T1; therefore, relevant partial correlations were conducted.

RESULTS: TOMM-T1 demonstrated a moderate, negative correlation with PCL-5, rs(45) = -0.469, p < 0.001, 95%CI(-0.688,-0.248). A moderate non-significant correlation was found between TOMM-T2 and PCL-5, rs(15) = -0.405, p = 0.053, 95%CI(-0.775,0.014). PCL-5 and TOMM-Ret were not correlated. Controlling for age, the correlation between PCL-5 and TOMM-T1 remained significant (rs[44] = -0.426, p = 0.002). Those who passed TOMM (M = 38.45, SD = 16.48) had significantly lower PCL-5 scores compared to those who failed (M = 57.67, SD = 13.83), t(45) = -3.231, p = 0.001, Cohen's D = 16.04.

CONCLUSIONS: Among veterans, PTSD symptom severity was related to TOMM scores and/or failure. Findings highlight a need to consider the role PTSD symptoms may play in neuropsychological assessment. Findings further support recommendations for trauma-focused treatment before formal neuropsychological testing, as psychiatric symptoms may interfere with obtaining a valid assessment of cognition.