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Criteria-Based Validity Assessment in Legal Cases Involving Pension and Accident Insurance
Klett, N.; Dohrenbusch, R.; Siegmann, E.M.; u. a. (2026): Criteria-Based Validity Assessment in Legal Cases Involving Pension and Accident Insurance, in: Bamberg: Otto-Friedrich-Universität, S. 1–16.
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2026
Pages:
Source/Other editions:
Psychological injury and law, New York, NY: Springer, 2026, Jg. 19, Nr. 2, 19, S. 1–16, ISSN: 1938-9728, 1938-971X
Year of first publication:
2026
Language:
English
Abstract:
Background: Medical expert witness assessments (MEWAs) evaluate case validity on the basis of both psychometric and non-psychometric modalities. Although symptom validity tests (SVTs) and performance validity tests (PVTs) are widely used, many thresholds were developed in analogue and known-groups validation contexts, and their transferability to MEWAs remains uncertain. Prior research validated a Criteria-Based Validity Assessment (CVA) as a multimodal framework for assessing case plausibility, but it remained unclear whether CVA and psychometric thresholds perform similarly across different legal contexts, such as pension insurance versus accident insurance evaluations. Objective: This study aimed to investigate differences in CVA, SVT, and PVT results across pension and accident insurance cases. Methods: A total of 721 MEWAs (572 pension; 149 accident) were analyzed. CVA criteria were rated by trained raters, and response biases were assessed psychometrically using the SIMS and the ASTM. Two-component beta-binomial mixture models were applied to derive CVA plausibility thresholds. Results: Mixture modeling reliably identified a distinct bimodal distribution of conspicuous CVA criteria counts, interpreted as plausible and implausible subgroups in both pension and accident cases, with ≥4 conspicuous CVA criteria representing the optimal plausibility threshold. Pension claimants showed significantly higher SIMS scores and lower ASTM scores than accident claimants, independent of case plausibility. Conclusion: CVA can be used to assess validity information collected from multiple data sources (longitudinal and cross-sectional) and to assess the validity of health-related claims across different legal settings. CVA, however, was not a tool for measuring context-specific response biases. Cases with ≤2 conspicuous CVA criteria may be valid, cases with three conspicuous criteria require individual examination because feigning is possible but not certain, and ≥4 conspicuous criteria supported a conservative classification of CVA-defined case implausibility.
Keywords: ; ; ; ; ;
Criteria-Based Validity Assessment
Medical expert witness assessment
Pension insurance
Accident insurance
Symptom validity test
Performance validity test
Type:
Article
Activation date:
June 12, 2026
Project(s):
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/115554