• Chronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain is a disabling condition for adolescents and young adults.• Pain intensity and depressive symptoms predict disability.• The effect of pain on the physical-activity level of adolescents and young adults with chronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain seems to be small.• Assessment and improvement of emotional well-being may improve treatment programs for adolescents and young adults with chronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain.]

Dealing with chronic pain in adolescence and early adulthood does not seem to change future goals, but is associated with perceiving barriers to achieving them. The level of depressive symptoms seems to influence this relationship. Some caution is required in generalizing the results due to the relatively low number of male participants.