The main objective of this research was to determine the initial psychometric properties of the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R) as a measure of pain intensity for use with Catalan children and adolescents. Results of the Catalan version of this scale (FPS-R-C) are similar to those obtained with the original instrument. In order to assess the validity and reliability of the FPS-R-C, two different samples were studied. The first sample contained 124 hospitalized children and adolescents (mean age 10.86; SD 2.5). They were asked to rate their affective state on the Faces Affective Scale (FAS) and the intensity of their pain on the FPS-R-C and the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS). The pain intensity ratings reported with FPS-R-C and CAS were very similar, correlations ranging from 0.83 to 0.9. The relationship between the intensity of pain experienced and children's affective state was also statistically significant (R = 32, P < 0.01). The second sample contained 247 schoolchildren (mean age 9.43; SD 1.55), who were asked to imagine themselves in eight hypothetical painful situations and rate the degree of pain using the FPS-R-C and the CAS (correlations ranging from 0.83 to 0.96). Test-retest correlations on this questionnaire (Painful Events Inventory) ranged from 0.26 to 0.70. Overall, these results provide preliminary evidence of the reliability, and convergent and criterion-related validity of the FPS-R-C. Moreover, all participating subjects were asked to choose the pain scale they preferred the most. Our data suggest that, regardless of their age and/or gender, the subjects prefer the FPS-R-C to the CAS.