Background Patients with hand fractures often have pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints of the hand, which may lead them to protect their hands, resulting in more stiffness and in delayed recovery. However, the effects of paincoping strategies and catastrophization (the tendency to expect the worst to occur when pain is present, an approach that can be thought of as the opposite of ''coping'') on functional recovery after hand fractures have not been investigated in depth. Questions/purposes Are preoperative catastrophization and anxiety in patients with hand fractures associated with (1) decreased grip strength; (2) decreased range of motion; and (3) increased disability at 3 and 6 months after surgical treatment for a hand fracture? Secondarily, we asked if there are other patient and injury factors that are associated with these outcomes at 3 and 6 months. Methods A total of 93 patients with surgically treated hand fractures were enrolled in this prospective study. Preoperative assessments measured coping strategies evaluated by measuring catastrophic thinking with the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and pain anxiety with the Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale. At 3 and 6 months postoperatively, grip strength, total active range of motion, and disability (Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score) were assessed. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify patient demographic, injury, and coping skills factors that accounted for outcomes of strength, motion, and disability. Results Decreased grip strength was associated with catastrophic thinking (beta = À1.29 [95% confidence interval, À1.67 to À0.89], partial R 2 = 11%, p \ 0.001) and anxiety (beta = À0.83 [À1.16 to À0.50], partial R 2 = 7%, p = 0.007) at 3 months, but by 6 months, only anxiety (beta = À0.74 [À1.04 to À0.44], partial R 2 = 7%, p = 0.010) remained an important factor. Decreased total active range of motion was associated with pain catastrophizing (beta = À0.63 [À0.90 to À0.36], partial R 2 = 6 %, p = 0.024) and anxiety (beta = À0.28 [À0.42 to À0.14], partial R 2 = 3%, p = 0.035) at 3 months but not at 6 months. Similarly, increased disability was associated with pain catastrophizing (beta = 1.09 [1.39-0.79], partial R 2 = 12%, p \ 0.001) and anxiety (beta = 0.93 [1.21-