BACKGROUND Neck and back pain are common and often account for absenteeism at work. Factors at work as well as fear-avoidance beliefs may influence sick-leave in these patients. The aims of this study were to assess: (1) how sick-listed patients in specialised care perceive demand, control, support, effort, reward, and overcommitment at work compared to a general reference group of workers; (2)...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine fear-avoidance beliefs in patients after first-time myocardial infarction and to determine how such beliefs change over time. A further aim was to analyse fear-avoidance beliefs and physical activity levels in patients attending exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation led by a registered physiotherapist, compared with a control group. DESIGN Prospe...

Recent research has indicated that vicarious learning can lead to increases in children's fear beliefs and avoidance preferences for stimuli and that these fear responses can subsequently be reversed using positive modeling (counterconditioning). The current study investigated children's vicariously acquired avoidance behavior, physiological responses (heart rate), and attentional bias for stim...

BACKGROUND Low back pain is a commonest musculoskeletal disorder affecting majority of people. Activity limitations are difficulties an individual may have in executing activities resulting from person's functioning and disability. According to the fear-avoidance model of low back pain, individuals who perceive pain as a sign of potential damage are more likely to avoid behaviors that increase ...

BACKGROUND Despite improvements in treatment, acute coronary syndrome remains a substantial cause for prolonged sick absences and premature retirement. Knowledge regarding what benefits return to work is limited, especially the effect of psychological processes and psychosocial work factors. The purposes of this cross-sectional study were two-fold: to examine associations between adverse psycho...

Background and Purpose: Current musculoskeletal interventions for neck pain that do not address a person’s fear avoidance beliefs about work and physical activity may have poor long-term outcomes. Research indicates a strong correlation between a person’s score on the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) and risk of chronic neck and back pain. Gua sha, a traditional Chinese medical inter...

BACKGROUND Long-term sick leave and withdrawal from working life is a concern in western countries. In Norway, comprehensive inpatient work rehabilitation may be offered to sick listed individuals at risk of long-term absence from work. Knowledge about prognostic factors for work outcomes after long-term sick leave and work rehabilitation is still limited. The aim of this study was to test a me...

Little is known about the correlates of cancer information avoidance and whether people with negative feelings and beliefs about cancer are more likely to avoid cancer information, allowing such thoughts and feelings to persist unchallenged. Using the Extended Parallel Processing Model as a theoretical guide, we tested the hypothesis that cancer fear and fatalism would predict cancer informatio...