Vietnam Veterans: Overreporting Versus Acceptable Reporting of Symptoms

Overreporting of symptoms among Vietnam combat veterans is a problem area with little research. Five hundred thirty Vietnam-era veterans were given the MMPI. They were divided according to two criteria, combat status and reporting status. For combat status, subjects were either in Vietnam (in-country) or in the military but not in Vietnam (Vietnam-era) between 1964 and 1975. For reporting status, the MMPI overreporting criteria of the subtle-obvious (S-O) items given by Green (1986) were used. Overreporters had an S-O total of > 160, and acceptable subjects were at or below this figure. Also, all subjects who responded randomly were excluded (MMPI Test-Retest scales > 4). Results indicated that a high number of subjects randomly responded to the MMPI, and that in-country veterans met the overreporting criteria in greater numbers than the Vietnam-era group. Also, multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) showed significant differences among groups in four distinct areas-MMPI basic scales, Harris-Lingoes, Wiggins, and special subscales-for both reporting status and combat status, but not for the interaction. Post hoc analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed that reporting status was especially robust. Two Vietnam in-country PTSD types, overreporters and "acceptable" patients, are discussed. Overreporters are more pathological and a distinct challenge in treatment relative to the other in-country veterans.