Journal of athletic training
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The fear-avoidance model was developed in an attempt to explain the process by which "pain experience" and "pain behavior" become dissociated from the actual pain sensation in individuals who manifest the phenomenon of exaggerated pain perception. High levels of fear avoidance can lead to chronic pain and disability and have successfully predicted rehabilitation time in the work-related-injury population. Existing fear-avoidance questionnaires have all been developed for the general population, but these questionnaires may not be specific enough to fully assess fear avoidance in an athletic population that copes with pain differently than the general population. ⋯ We developed a questionnaire with good internal and external validity. The AFAQ is a scale that measures sport-injury-related fear avoidance in athletes and could be used to identify potential psychological barriers to rehabilitation.