Long-term adolescent multi-site musculoskeletal pain is associated with psychological distress and anxiety.

Objective: Although several studies have shown that adolescent musculoskeletal pain is associated with psychological problems in a cross-sectional setting, the associations of long-term musculoskeletal pain with psychological distress and anxiety are not known.

Methods: The study included 1773 adolescents belonging to the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. They received a postal questionnaire at the age of 16years and a follow-up questionnaire two years later.