Rapid identification and clinical indices of fear-avoidance in youth with chronic pain.

Pain-related fear and avoidance are increasingly demonstrated to play an important role in adult and childhood chronic pain. The Fear of Pain Questionnaire for Children (FOPQC) is a 24-item measure of pain-related fear-avoidance in youth that has demonstrated good indices of reliability and validity, treatment responsiveness, and associations with brain circuitry alterations. This study describes the development and psychometric examination of the FOPQC-SF, a short form of the original measure. We selected 10 items for the short form that best represented the content and 2-factor (fear and avoidance) structure of the original measure from a cohort of 613 youth (Mage = 14.7 years) with chronic pain. Next, confirmatory factor analyses from a second sample of 526 youth (Mage = 14.7 years) with chronic pain who completed the FOPQC-SF supported the original 2-factor model but indicated that one item should be moved to the avoidance subscale. The FOPQC-SF demonstrates strong internal consistency and moderate-to-strong construct and criterion validity. The 3-month test-retest reliability estimates (N = 94) were strong, and there was preliminary evidence of responsivity to change. To aid integration into intervention trials and clinical practice, we provide clinical reference points and a criterion to assess reliable change. The short form could be used for rapid identification of pain-related fear and avoidance in youth during clinic evaluations, and is optimized for clinical registries.