Validation and norms for sentence completion task scales to assess misrepresentation during disability assessment

The SCT-75 is a projective (sentence completion) test containing three empirically constructed scales to assess dimensions of self-serving misrepresentation during the evaluation of patients' self-reported disability status. This article presents validity data from two studies, involving 139 patients undergoing formal psychiatric evaluation regarding physical and/or psychiatric disability status, and 69 orthopedic patients who had been referred for physical therapy evaluation and treatment. The SCT-75 dimension of Angry Negativity was associated with exaggeration of psychiatric status, anger, and lack of cooperation with treatment; Disability Promotion was associated with exaggeration of physical disability status and secondary gain potential; and Excessive Virtue was associated with other measures of that concept. Because the two patient groups were similar in means and standard deviations over the three scales, they were combined for a single set of norms.