Objective: To investigate the appreciation of written education about pain neurophysiology in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and its effects on illness perceptions and quality of life. Method: A booklet explaining pain neurophysiology (i.e. central sensitisation) was sent to participants with FM. Appreciation about the information in the booklet was assessed by 10 questions addressing perceived relevance (0-30) and perceived reassurance (0-30). Participants filled in the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) at baseline (T0), after a 2 week control period (T1) and 6 weeks after the intervention (T2). Differences between T0, T1 and T2 were analysed using a repeated measures design. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to reveal relationships between appreciation and changes in outcome. Results: Mean (SD) scores for relevance and reassurance were 21.6 (5.6) and 18.7 (5.7), respectively. Illness coherence, emotional representations, pain and fatigue changed significantly between T0 and T2, pain also before intervention. Correlations between appreciation and changes in illness perceptions, catastrophizing and quality of life ranged between r=.000 and r=.338. Conclusions: Although a majority of our subjects with FM appreciated the written information about pain neurophysiology, it did not have clinically relevant effects on illness perceptions, catastrophizing and quality of life. Appreciation of the information was not related to changes in outcome. Objective: Fibromyalgia patients are perceived by clinicians to be 'difficult' and not easy to manage. Injured athletes are considered as much less difficult to manage clinically. According to Leventhal's Common Sense Model these differences are related to the illness perceptions of these groups. The objective of this study, therefore, was: What are the illness perceptions of patients with fibromyalgia and injured athletes? Method: 196 fibromyalgia patients and 95 injured athletes participated in the study. In both groups the Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised, adapted for fibromyalgia and sport injuries, respectively, was used. The samples were recruited form physical therapy practices in the Netherlands. Results: The fibromyalgia group consisted of 172 (88%) female and 24 (12%) male patients with a mean age of 49 years (SD 11), familiar with the diagnosis since 7 years (SD 6). The athletes sample consisted of 31 (41%) female and 64 (59%) males; mean age was 30 (SD 12). The duration of the injury was in 47 athletes (49%) longer than 6 months; all were injured due to participating in a broad range of sports. Significant differences were found for illness identity, timeline acute chronic, timeline cyclical, consequences, treatment control and illness coherence. Fibromyalgia patients have a strong illness identity, perceive more symptoms (pain, fatigue, stiffness), have negative beliefs about the consequences of fibromyalgia, their faith in treatments is low and they do not understand their fibromyalgia and associated symptoms, they have a strong belief in the chronic and cyclical nature of the condition. Injured athletes have a weak illness identity associated with a high controllability; they see their injury as not chronic, and with minimal serious consequences. They understand the nature of their injury, given their high illness coherence and do not have a strong emotional representation. Conclusions: The illness perceptions in the two samples studied differ significantly, in a way that substantiates clinical impressions. These differences imply tailoring approaches by health care professionals. Assessing illness perceptions therefore seems useful for diagnostic and therapeutic decision making in patients with chronic conditions. Aim: To evaluate the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based stress management on FMS patients regarding pain, stress, and well-being. Study population and method: 48 women, 27-62 years of age were randomly allocated to two groups, an early treatment group and a waiting list group. A modified protocol for CBT originally designed for treating women after myocardial infarction was used with key components: education, self-monitoring, skills training, cognitive reconstructing and spiritual development. Brief relaxation was trained. The patients were treated in groups of 5-7 during three hours once week during half a year. During the next 6 months three "booster" sessions were held. Two experienced clinical psychologists with competence in CBT were responsible for the therapy. Outcome evaluation are based on Multidimensional Pain Inventory, the Type A behavior instrument, Vital exhaustion, Visual Analogue Scales measured pain, wellbeing and stress. Results: Perceived "life control" level increased during the intervention in the early treatment group from 3.1 to 3.5, but decreased in the waiting list group from 3.2 to 2.8. (p=0.01). There were similar but less pronounced differences for a number of other dimensions, but none was significant. Stress decreased from 53.7 to 35.9 mm in the early treatment group, but increased from 46.5 to 52.2 in the waiting list group (p=0.02). Pain and well-being showed similar trends but the differences were non-significant. Vital exhaustion decreased in the early treatment group from 24.9 to 22.0, but increased somewhat from 21.5 to 21.8 in the waiting list group (p=0.02). Stress behaviour decreased somewhat more in the early treatment group than in the waiting list group, Conclusions: CBT stress management given to female patients with fibromyalgia increased life control and decreased stress and vital exhaustion. The experience of pain was not significantly reduced. CBT has the potential to improve well-being among patients with cronic widespread pain. Background: Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Nearly ¼ of the UK population are obese, and by 2050 this is predicted to reach 60%. This has enormous cost implications for the NHS. Consequently, tackling obesity is a Government priority. An evidence-base exists of theoretically-informed behaviour change techniques for weight loss, however, in routine practice, doctors more commonly use theoretically-unfounded communication strategies (e.g. information giving). It is not known if the current focus on communication skills teaching during undergraduate training adequately prepares future doctors for this growing challenge. Objectives: To examine 1) what behaviour change techniques medical trainees use to facilitate behaviour change in obese patients and 2) how this impacts on patient behavioural intentions. Methods: Forty-eight students in their clinical years of a UK medical school were recruited to perform two simulated consultations each. Both consultations involved an obese patient where weight loss was indicated. Simulated patients (SPs) were used to standardise patient variables (e.g. barriers to behaviour change) and presentation of scenario order was counterbalanced. Following each consultation, students assessed the techniques they perceived themselves to have used. SPs rated the extent to which they intended to make behavioural changes. Anonymised transcripts of the audiotaped consultations were coded by independent assessors, blind to student and SP ratings, using a validated behaviour change taxonomy (Abraham & Michie, 2008) . Results: Students reported using a wide range of evidence-based techniques. In contrast, codings of observed communication behaviours were more limited, focusing on information-giving strategies. SPs behavioural intentions also varied and was explained with reference to students' communication. Treatment of fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic pain disease characterizes by widespread pain is regarded as challenging and the prognosis for recovery is poor. Psychological interventions are known to be effective in other pain disorders and therefore could be a promising treatment of FM. But only few qualitative reviews with divergent conclusions and no meta-analysis on this subject exist. The aims of the present analysis were to investigate the short-and long-term efficacy and treatment moderators of psychological interventions for fibromyalgia. A literature search identified 23 eligible studies with 30 psychological treatment conditions and 1396 patients. Meta-analytic integration resulted in a significant small effect size (g = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27 -0.48) for short-term pain reduction and a significant small-to-medium effect sizes for long-term pain reduction over an average follow-up phase of 7.4 months (g = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.3 -0.65) for any psychological intervention. Psychological treatments also proved effective in reducing sleep problems (g = 0.46, 95 % CI: 0.28 -0.64) and depression (g = 0.3, 95 % CI: 0.17 -0.34). These effects remained stable at follow-up. Moderator analyses revealed cognitivebehavioural treatment to be significantly better then other psychological treatments in short-term pain reduction (g = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.46 -0.76) and cognitive-behavioural treatment and relaxation treatments in short-term sleep problems reduction (g = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.39 -0.97). Higher treatment dose was associated with better outcome. Publication-bias analyses demonstrated that the effect sizes were robust. It is concluded, the effects of psychological treatments for fibromyalgia are promising and comparable to those reported for other pain symptoms or drug treatment in FM. Psychological interventions of sufficient length should be included in FM treatment programmes.