Objective: Past research has shown response biases to influence the ac
curacy of results from self-report measures. In pain assessment, where
a percentage of patients have financial and other reasons to minimize
or exaggerate psychological disturbance, it becomes especially import
ant to identify the influence of response bias in self-report of adjus
tment. This study investigated the susceptibility of three commonly us
ed self-report pain assessment measures to response bias. Design: This
study used a within-subjects (asymptomatic subjects) design with two
experimental conditions and nonequivalent control group (chronic pain
patients). Subjects: Experimental group: 40 students enrolled in an oc
cupational therapy program at a major southeastern United States unive
rsity. Control group: 200 subjects referred to a multidisciplinary pai
n clinic at a major teaching hospital. Measures: Coping Strategies Que
stionnaire, Multidimensional Pain Inventory, and Pain Beliefs and Perc
eptions Inventory. Results: With few exceptions, asymptomatic subjects
scored significantly differently on these measures while portraying t
hemselves as either coping well or coping poorly. In addition, when us
ing the ''coping poorly'' response set, asymptomatic subjects reproduc
ed scores similar to those of symptomatic chronic pain patients. Concl
usion: The susceptibility to manipulation appeared constant across the
three measures, a finding that highlighted the difficulties clinician
s and researchers encounter in accurate interpretation of results from
these measures in the absence of validity indicators. This study also
emphasizes the ease with which subjects with sufficient motivation ca
n present themselves in an untruthful and manipulative manner and can
generate scores that are, on their own, difficult to distinguish from
those of a group of typical chronic pain patients.