Psychometric validation of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia for Youth (TSK-7-Y): a brief measure of movement-related fear in youth with chronic pain

Abstract Fear of movement (FoM), or kinesiophobia, is associated with functional disability in individuals with chronic pain. The Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) is among the most widely used instruments for assessing FoM and has undergone several revisions; however, its psychometric properties have not been evaluated in youth with chronic pain, and there is currently no consensus on the optimal version to use in pediatric pain populations. We examined data from youth with a range of chronic pain conditions (N = 1252; M age = 14.55 years, 79.2% female sex assigned at birth) who were receiving clinical care or participating in studies across 3 study centers in the United States and Canada. Participants completed the 11- or 17-item version of the TSK as well as measures of mobility, functional disability, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing. Using a combination of classical item theory techniques, Rasch analytic methods, and expert consensus, we identified a robust set of 7 TSK items (ie, the TSK-7-Y) based on item difficulty, point–measure correlations across items, and coverage of key measurement dimensions. The TSK-7-Y was compared with the 11-item set using predictive validation techniques including exploratory factor analysis and Pearson correlations with scores on 4 criterion-related instruments. Results indicated that TSK-7-Y items loaded onto 2 distinct factors comparably with the TSK-11. The total score correlated moderately with pain catastrophizing ( r = 0.51) and weakly with depressive symptoms ( r = 0.07). The TSK-7-Y is a brief yet psychometrically sound instrument for assessing FoM in youth with chronic pain.