Relationship between social desirability and self-report in chronic pain patients.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between social desirability and self-report in data collected from chronic pain patients.


METHODS
A multidisciplinary pain management center located in a major university medical center.


METHODS
Two hundred persons presenting with chronic pain, including low back, head/neck, and extremity pain.


METHODS
Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Beck Depression Inventory--Short Form, Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory, Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist, McGill Pain Questionnaire, Pain Disability Index, Quality of Life Scale, Pain Drawing.


CONCLUSIONS
Correlations showed that patients with greater social desirability response bias reported less depression and anxiety but higher levels of pain severity. When depression effects were controlled in a regression analysis, social desirability correlated positively with self-reported disability. These results show systematic response patterns associated with social desirability, suggesting that social desirability response biases should be considered in both research and clinical assessments of chronic pain patients.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, St. Louis University School of Medicine, MO 63104, USA.
T L
TL
Deshields
R C
RC
Tait
J D
JD
Gfeller
J T
JT
Chibnall
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012928:Social Desirability