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M-FAST

Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test

Holly A. Miller, PhD

Purpose:
Screens for malingered psychiatric illness
Format:
Paper and pencil, E-Manual
Age range:
18 years to 71 years
Time:
5–10 minutes; 5 minutes to score
Qualification level:
S
S
A degree, certificate, or license to practice in a health care profession or occupation, including (but not limited to) the following: medicine, neurology, nursing, occupational therapy and other allied health care professions, physician's assistants, psychiatry, social work; plus appropriate training and experience in the ethical administration, scoring, and interpretation of clinical behavioral assessment instruments. Certain health care providers may be eligible to purchase selected "B" and "C" level instruments within their area of expertise. Specifically, relevant supervised clinical experience using tests (i.e., internship, residency, etc.) in combination with formal coursework ( i.e., Tests and Measurement, Individual Assessment, or equivalent) qualifies a health care provider to purchase certain restricted products. Any PAR Customer already qualified to purchase a "B" or "C" level product, is also qualified to purchase an "S" level product. If you are not already qualified to purchase a "B"or "C" level product from PAR, please download and complete the special Qualification Form for Medical and Allied Health Professionals. (You will need Adobe Acrobat to view.) Close

The M-FAST is a 25-item screening interview for adults that helps assess the likelihood that an individual is feigning psychiatric illness.

Features and benefits

  • Scales (Reported vs. Observed Symptoms, Extreme Symptomatology, Rare Combinations, Unusual Hallucinations, Unusual Symptom Course, Negative Image, and Suggestibility) operationalize response styles and interview strategies that have been shown to identify individuals who are feigning psychopathology.
  • The flexibility of the structured interview format allows you to determine when, where, and to whom the M-FAST should be administered. The M-FAST can be easily integrated into a larger evaluation.
  • Interpretive information is provided at three distinct levels: The total score provides an estimate of the likelihood that the respondent is malingering psychopathology; scale scores provide information about the nature of the individual’s response styles that can help to explain how he or she is attempting to malinger mental illness; and several scales consistently differentiate malingerers from honest responders. 
  • When results indicate a probability of feigning, a more comprehensive assessment instrument (e.g., the SIRS) can be administered to obtain more detailed and definitive information.
  • Developed and validated with both simulation and known-groups samples.
  • Validity has been demonstrated across gender and ethnic/racial groups and across settings (inpatient, outpatient, and nonclinical).