To Örebro University

In the last decades, there has been a clear recognition of the importance of psychosocial factors in the explanation of chronic musculoskeletal pain. It is generally accepted that chronic musculoskeletal pain and disability has multiple causes, a view that is summarized in the so-called biopsychosocial models (Gatchel, Peng, Peters, Fuchs, & Turk, 2007). However, psychosocial factors have proven to be important predictors of chronic pain and disability already early on in acute and subacute stages of pain. A range of reviews conclude that factors, such as depression, anxiety, pain beliefs, catastrophizing, and coping behaviors, play a primary role in the transition from acute to chronic pain and disability (Linton, 2002; Main, Sullivan, & Watson, 2007; Nicholas, Linton, Watson, & Main, 2011). This supports the notion that psychosocial factors are preferably viewed as an integrated part of musculoskeletal pain, not only in the rehabilitation of chronic problems but also in prevention in the subacute stages.