BACKGROUND: Recovery represents an individualised, psychological construct serving as a buffer for health complaints and back pain. Recovery might also help in reducing chronic back pain (CBP) but has not been examined within CBP rehabilitation. AIM: Testing the acute effects of recovery tools to reduce CBP and stress and to improve recovery. METHODS: A longitudinal, quasi-randomised pilot study with 55 individuals on sick leave caused by CBP was conducted. The acute effects of a multimodal out-patient rehabilitation programme were evaluated, while recovery tools were conveyed within the intervention group. The control group received regular treatment. Validated psychometric questionnaires to measure CBP, stress and recovery were used. RESULTS: Repeated measures ANOVA indicated significant reductions for pain intensity (p < 0.001, eta-p2 = 0.39), Disability (p < 0.001, eta-p2 = 0.55), Overall Stress (p = 0.001, eta-p2 = 0.19), and a significant improvement for Overall Recovery (p = 0.010, eta-p2 = 0.12) in both groups. A more pronounced increase for recovery was registered in the intervention group considering the descriptive values. CONCLUSIONS: Both groups displayed significant short-term improvements for CBP, stress and recovery, while the intervention group did not show statistically superior effects. Long-term intervention effects should be monitored within the programme to assess the sustainable efficacy and feasibility of the recovery tools.

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