About the P-3®

Table of Contents

About the P-3 3

1 Brief Description 3

2 About the Authors 3

3 Quick Facts 4

4 Scales 4

5 Norm Groups 4

6 Report Options 4

7 Scoring and Reporting Rules 5

8 Data Export Labels 6

Copyright © 1992, 1995 NCS Pearson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pearson and P-3 are trademarks, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson PLC or its
affiliates.

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 About the P-3

1 Brief Description
The Pain Patient Profile (P-3) is a 44-item, self-report, multiple-choice instrument
designed to help the clinician identify patients who are experiencing emotional distress
associated with primary complaints of pain. The P-3 is appropriate for patients suffering
pain as a result of physical trauma (e.g., motor vehicle accidents and work-related
injuries), disease, or illness.

Each of the 44 questions offers the patient three brief response options. The P-3 has
three clinical scales:
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Somatization.

The P-3 also includes a Validity Index that assesses the probability of random
responding, inadequate reading comprehension, and magnification of symptoms.

2 About the Authors

C. David Tollison, PhD
C. David Tollison obtained his PhD in clinical psychology and biological psychology
with an emphasis in psychopharmacology from the University of Georgia. He interned
at the Medical College of Georgia. Prior to his current position as founder and director
of the Greenville (South Carolina) Hospital System Center for Health and Occupational
Services, Dr. Tollison was director and president of Pain Therapy Centers, a hospital
corporation that developed and managed nine hospital-based pain treatment
programs in the eastern and midwestern United States. He is the author of over 30
scientific articles and 12 book chapters on pain diagnosis and treatment. He has
also written or edited 9 textbooks. Dr. Tollison serves as associate clinical professor
at the Medical College at Georgia and is a visiting professor in the Wyeth-Ayerst
Pharmaceutical Laboratories Visiting Professor Program.

Jerry C. Langley, DC
Dr. Jerry C. Langley graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1974 with a
degree in social and behavioral science. He is a 1979 graduate of Life Chiropractic
College. Dr. Langley is currently in private practice in Greenville, South Carolina.
He contributed a chapter on the use of spinal manipulation in the treatment of
low back pain to The Handbook of Chronic Pain Management. Dr. Langley has
frequently lectured on the subject of spinal disabilities for the South Carolina Industrial
Commission. He recently gave a lecture on spinal manipulation in the treatment of
back pain to the American Academy of Pain Management.

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 3 Quick Facts

Authors: C. David Tollison

Jerry C. Langley
Publisher: Pearson
Date of Publication: 1995
Appropriate Ages: 17 to 76
Minimum Reading Level: 8th grade
Administration Time: 15-20 minutes
Assessment Length: 44 groups of statements with three
statements per group
Scales: 3 clinical scales
1 Validity Index
Report Options: Interpretive Report
Progress Report

4 Scales
DEP  Depression
ANX  Anxiety
SOM  Somatization
VAL  Validity Index

5 Norm Groups
Pain Patient and Community Normative Samples
A total of 497 subjects participated in cross-validating the 44-item version of the P-3.
Approximately half of the subjects were pain patients (N=243) and half were community
subjects (N=254). Both samples were obtained from sites located in the southeastern,
northeastern, midwestern, and western United States. Subjects ranged in age from 17
to 76.

6 Report Options
Interpretive Report
This report offers the health professional a 6-7 page detailed analysis of the individual’s
responses to the P-3. The interpretative report is divided into seven major sections: (1)
Profile Validity, (2) Results Summary, (3) Clinical Profile, (4) Clinical Interpretation, (5)
Treatment Recommendation, (6) Omitted Items, and (7) P-3 Patient Summary. The P-3
Patient Summary is a one-page synopsis of P-3 findings written in non-threatening and
easy-to-understand language. At the discretion of the health professional, this separate
summary page may be shared with or given to the patient for review.

Raw scores for each of the three scales (Depression, Anxiety, and Somatization) are
transformed into T scores based on a pain patient normative sample. These T scores are
used to plot the individual’s results. Included on this profile is an indication of how the
average community person scores on the scales relative to the average pain patient. If

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 6 Report Options continued
desired, the clinician can choose to have these results presented in a table instead of
a bar graph by checking the Substitute Results Table for Profile option in the Print Option
dialog box.

Progress Report
This report is designed for monitoring an examinee’s progress over time. Provided at
no additional charge, it graphically displays scale-by-scale changes in an examinee’s
scores for up to five P-3 administrations. The Progress Report presents the individual’s T
scores for each administration based on the patient normative sample.

7 Scoring and Reporting Rules

Administration Scorability Rules
The administration of this assessment cannot be scored if any of the following
conditions are true:
• Identification number is missing or invalid, or first or last name of examinee is missing
or invalid
• Birth date is missing or invalid
• Administration date is missing or invalid
• There are fewer than two valid clinical scales
• Birth date is later than the administration date
• All responses must be properly filled in first

If an administration is unscorable, you must fill in the appropriate responses or raw

scores before you can score the instrument.

Report Invalidity Rules

Report invalidity rules describe circumstances in which a valid interpretation cannot be
made. Common examples are too many missing responses, an examinee’s age that is
outside the appropriate range, an abnormal score on an assessment’s validity index,
and an uninterpretable profile configuration.

This report is invalid if any of the following conditions are true:

• The Validity Index score is greater than 11
• More than one item is omitted from the Validity Index
• One of the three clinical scales is invalid
• The Validity Index equals 11 and one validity item is omitted

Unless you have modified your default system settings, you will always be asked whether
or not you want to print an invalid report. An on-screen message will briefly describe the
invalidity condition and the data you will receive if you print the report. For example, an
invalid report might include a printout of raw and transformed scores, but the scores
would not be plotted and no interpretation would be attempted.

Scale Invalidity Rules

If more than one item is missing from one of the scales, that scale is invalid. Invalid
scale scores are reported only as raw scores. T scores for invalid scales are set to 0 and
are not plotted.

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 8 Data Export Labels

Demographic Description Special Values

Data (if applicable)
ExamineeID Examinee’s identification number  
BirthDate Examinee’s birth date  
AdminDate Date of administration  
Gender Examinee’s gender (1 = Male; 2 = Female)
LastName Examinee’s last name  
FirstName Examinee’s first name  
MI Examinee’s middle initial  
Lithocode Lithocode that appears on the  
assessment scan form
Custom1 Custom field #1  
Custom2 Custom field #2  
Custom3 Custom field #3  
Custom4 Custom field #4  

Score Data Description Special Values

(if applicable)
Val_Raw Validity Index raw score  
Dep _Raw Depression raw score  
Anx_Raw Anxiety raw score  
Som_Raw Somatization raw score  
Dep_Pat Depression patient T score  
Anx_Pat Anxiety patient T score  
Som_Pat Somatization patient T score  
Dep_Comm Depression community T score  
Anx_Comm Anxiety community T score  
Som_Comm Somatization community T score  
Rpt_Status Validity status of the report (1 = valid report,
2 = invalid report)

Item Response Description Special Values

Data (if applicable)
Q1 through Responses for items 1 through 44  
Q44

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