An increasing number of cases of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are being seen in medical practices. However, many controversies still surround the diagnosis, treatment and aetiology of the condition. CFS appears to share features of both depressive disorders and chronic physical illnesses. This study compared a group of CFS patients with depressives and chronically physically ill patients on measures of depression, illness behaviour and attributional style. The CFS patients were found to be more similar to depressives on measures of depression and illness behaviour, but more like chronically physically ill patients on attributional style. Implications of the findings are examined.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlloyL.B.AbramsonL.Y.MetalskyG.I.HartlageS. (1988). The hopelessness theory of depression: attributional aspects. British Journal of Psychology, 27, 5–21.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). DSM-III-R. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed revised). Washington DC.: American Psychiatric Association.
3.
BiccardA.M. (1993). An analysis of the relationship between coping strategies used and the incidence of relapse in myalgic encephalomyelitis. Unpublished Masters dissertation. University of Witwatersrand.
4.
BiggsJ.T.WylieL.T.ZieglerV.E. (1978). Validity of the Zung self-rating depression scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 381–385.
5.
BlakelyA.A.HowardR.C.SosichR.M.MurdochJ.C.MenkesD.B.SpearsG.F. (1991). Psychiatric symptoms, personality and ways of coping in chronic fatigue syndrome. Psychological Medicine, 21, 347–362.
6.
FoleyF.W.MillerA.H.TraugottU.LaRoccaN.G.ScheinbergL.C.BedellJ.R.LennoxS.L. (1988). Psychoimmunological dysregulation in multiple sclerosis. Psychosomatics, 29, 398–403.
7.
HickieI.LloydA.WakefieldD.ParkerD. (1990). The psychiatric status of patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 534–540.
8.
HolmesG.P.KaplanJ.E.GantzN.M.KomaroffA.L.SchonbergerL.B.StrausS.E.JonesJ.F.DuBoisR.E.Cunningham-RundlesC.PahwaJ.TosatoG.SegansL.S.PurtiloD.T.BrownN.SchooleyR.T.BrusI. (1988). Chronic fatigue syndrome: a working case definition. Annals of Internal Medicine, 108, 387–389.
9.
KamenL.P. (1987). Explanatory style and health. Current Psychological Research and Reviews, 6, 207–218.
10.
KivelaS.NissinenA.PunsarS.PuskaP. (1987). Age and regional differences in reliability and factor structure of the Zung SRSD in elderly Finnish males. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 318–327.
11.
KruesiM.DaleJ.StrausS. (1989). Psychiatric diagnoses in patients who have chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 50, 53–56.
12.
LindeggerG.C. (1988). Chronic pain, illness behaviour and family relationships. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
13.
ManuP.MathewsD.A.LaneT.J. (1988). The mental health of patients with a chief complaint of chronic fatigue. Archives of Internal Medicine, 148, 2213–2217.
14.
McEvedyC.T.BeardA.W. (1970). Concepts of benign myalgic encephalomyelitis. British Medical Journal, 1, 11–15.
15.
MechanicD. (1986). Illness behaviour: an overview. In McHughS.VallisT.M. (Eds), Illness behaviour: a multidisciplinary model. (pp. 101–110). New York, Plenum.
16.
OkanoM.MatsumotoS.AsatoT.SakiyamaY.ThieleG.M.PartilloD.T. (1991). Severe active chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection syndrome. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 4, 129–135.
17.
PetersenC.SemmelA.Von BayerC.AbramsonMetalskyJ.I.SeligmanM.E.P. (1982). The attributional style questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6, 287–300.
18.
PilowskyI. (1986). Abnormal illness behaviour: a review of the concept and its implications. In McHughS.VallisT.M. (Eds), Illness behaviour: a multidisciplinary model (pp. 391–396). New York: Plenum.
19.
PilowskyI. (1993). Dimensions of illness behaviour as measured by the illness behaviour questionnaire: a replication study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 37, 53–62.
20.
PilowskyI.ChapmanC.R.BonicaJ.J. (1977). Pain, depression and illness behaviour in a pain clinic population. Pain, 4, 183–192.
21.
PilowskyI.MurrellT.G.GordonA. (1979). The development of a screening method for abnormal illness behaviour. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 23, 203–207.
22.
PilowskyI.SpenceN.D. (1975). Patterns of illness behaviour in patients with intractable pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 19, 279–287.
23.
PilowskyI.SpenceN.D. (1983). Manual for the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (2nd Ed.). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.
24.
PilowskyI.SpenceN.D.WaddyJ.L. (1979). Illness behaviour and coronary artery by-pass surgery. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 23, 39–44.
25.
PowellR.DolanR.WesselyS. (1990). Attributions and self-esteem in depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 34, 665–673.
26.
RayC. (1991). Chronic fatigue syndrome and depression: conceptual and methodological ambiguities. Psychological Medicine, 21, 1–9.
27.
RayC.WeirW.R.C.CullenS.PhillipsS. (1992). Illness perception and symptom components in chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 36, 243–256.
28.
RosenhanD.L.SeligmanM.E.P. (1988). Abnormal psychology. (2nd ed.) Norton: New York.
29.
SchaeferA.BrownJ.WatsonC.G.PlemelD. (1985). Comparison of the validities of the Beck, Zung and MMPI depression scales. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 415–418.
SpracklanF.H.N. (1988). The chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis) — myth or mystery?South African Medical Journal, 74, 448–452.
32.
TanakaJ.HubaG. (1987). Assessing the stability of depression in college students. Multivariate Behavioural Research, 22, 5–19.
33.
TaerkG.S.TonerB.B.SalitI.S.GarfinkelP.E.OzerskyS. (1987). Depression in patients with neuromyasthenia (benign myalgic encephalomyelitis). International Journal of Psychiatric Medicine, 17, 49–56.
34.
WesselyS.PowellR. (1989). Fatigue syndromes: a comparison of chronic ‘postviral’ fatigue with neuromuscular and affective disorders. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 52, 940–948.
35.
WilliamsJ.M.G. (1992). The psychological treatment of depression. London: Routledge.
36.
ZondermanA.B.HeftM.W.CostaP.T. (1985). Does the illness behaviour questionnaire measure abnormal illness behaviour?Health Psychology, 4, 425–436.
37.
ZungW.W.K. (1965). A self-rating depression scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 12, 63–70.
