Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Cognitive, Behavioural and Emotional Processing Vulnerability Factors

[Kati]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28098051

Another winner of a paper (sarcastic tone)

Behav Cogn Psychother. 2017 Jan 18:1-14. doi: 10.1017/S1352465816000631. [Epub ahead of print]
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Cognitive, Behavioural and Emotional Processing Vulnerability Factors.
Brooks SK1, Chalder T1, Rimes KA2.
Author information

• 1Department of Psychological Medicine,King's College London,Institute of Psychiatry,Weston Education Centre,Cutcombe Road,London SE5 9RJ.
• 2King's College London,Institute of Psychiatry,Psychology and Neuroscience,Department of Psychology,Henry Wellcome Building,De Crespigny Park,London SE5 8AF.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Cognitive-behavioural models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) suggest that personality factors such as perfectionism and high moral standards may contribute to the development of CFS.

AIMS:
To investigate cognitive, behavioural and emotional processing risk factors for CFS.

METHOD:
CFS patients (n = 67) at a UK specialist clinic completed questionnaires about psychological characteristics both currently and retrospectively (6 months pre-CFS onset). Responses were compared with those of healthy individuals (n = 73) who rated their current characteristics. Forty-four relatives retrospectively rated the pre-morbid psychological characteristics of the CFS participants.

RESULTS:
CFS patients showed similar levels of current perfectionism to controls, though higher pre-morbid perfectionism. CFS patients showed greater self-sacrificial beliefs and more unhelpful beliefs about experiencing and expressing negative emotions, both currently but more markedly prior to onset. In the 6 months pre-illness onset, CFS patients showed more disruption to their primary goal and greater general stress than controls. Ratings of pre-morbid psychological characteristics by relatives were consistent with patients' self-reports. The extent of overinvestment in one goal was significantly associated with fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS:
Perfectionism, self-sacrificial tendencies, unhelpful beliefs about emotions, and perceived stress may be present to a greater extent pre-morbidly in CFS patients compared with healthy individuals.

KEYWORDS:
Chronic fatigue; beliefs; goals; perfectionism; predictors

 

[RogerBlack]

Neglecting anything else - how on earth were healthy controls an appropriate control.
If you're looking at someone with a serious illness, it's not implausible that people will reflect differently on their behaviour than if they hadn't gotten that illness.
Comparably disabled people - perhaps with heart conditions - would have been a reasonable control, neglecting any otehr flaws in this.

 

[Cheshire]

CFS patients showed similar levels of current perfectionism to controls, though higher pre-morbid perfectionism.

No differences in perfectionism level between CFS and control... So once again, a key element (and one of Chalder's pet theories) of the cognitive and behavioural model just crumbles. (After their own studies showed that the fear of exercice theory, the role of activity, the stereotypes of patients oversensitive to placebo or anti-psychiatry, the effect of CBT and GET (and I could go on) have been seriously "overstated").

But our courageous searchers didn't let this annoying result let them down.
They somehow managed to brilliantly demonstrate that pre-morbid perfectionism was higher. Ah... sigh of relief! They knew they can't be wrong.

Seriously, how did they get to that result? Only a prospective study could tell that.

 

[A.B.]

But our courageous searchers didn't let this annoying result let them down.

They certainly don't suffer from "perfectionism" or "high moral standards".

 

[purrsian]

Even if shows that personality/emotional factors are involved in the onset of illness, it kind of proves that they aren't involved in the continuation of the illness, since they showed that CFS patients had similar levels to healthy controls. So doesn't that kind of prove that the CBT model of illness beliefs is not the reason we continue to be sick?

Would've liked to see results compared to other chronically ill populations instead of healthy controls, as all chronic illness involves psychological stress. Also would be interesting to see if the levels of pre-morbid perfectionism and stress are similarly higher before other illnesses, as that would show that it's not something unique to the onset of CFS - it's just that people who are under stress have physiological changes in their systems that make them more susceptible to illnesses.

 

[Molly98]

So does that mean that schools and work places Oh and religious institutions which actively encourage, promote and often actively incentivise and reward these very characteristic should be held responsible for us being sick, should we be suing them?

I do wish patients would not be hoodwinked into such studies.
It is just perpetuating this nonsense and character assassination, putting the blame squarely with the personality of the patient,

As you mentioned above @RogerBlack where is the comparison with other patient groups.

And more over what is the point.

 

[sarah darwins]

More garbage make-work from Chalder and co. Even their starting point is twaddle:

Cognitive-behavioural models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) suggest that personality factors such as perfectionism and high moral standards may contribute to the development of CFS.

No. Their 'models' of the syndrome they invented were based on their abiding belief that personality factors contributed to chronic illness.

Usual BPS trick of presenting one of their own assumptions as though it were observed fact and starting from there.

 

[Hutan]

Where did they get their controls from? I can't see the full study, but how likely is it that the people who have time to sign up to be a control in a study are high powered executives or focussed high achieving sports people? Not very likely I think. So, how likely is it that the 73 controls are actually representative of the broader population?

And, is it not more likely that the type of patient most likely to participate in a research study has high moral standards and is self-sacrificing? Is it not more likely that a patient who had invested a lot in their career and now can not work might be the most motivated and equipped to participate in a research study? Is it not more likely that a meek patient who likes to please authority figures and has a tendency to self-blame would be the most likely to persist with a questionnaire that was aiming to find personality faults?

Whereas the lazy ME patients retired to their sofas, well away from researchers. And the patients who are comfortable in expressing negative emotions told the researchers precisely what they could do with their @###*!! study and their @###*!! self-serving prejudices.

I suspect, if this study says anything about anything at all, it is about the personality traits of people willing to participate in this study - and the personality traits of the researchers who keep churning out these rubbish studies.

 

[trishrhymes]

Another junk PhD probably.

 

[TiredSam]

unhelpful beliefs about emotions, and perceived stress may be present to a greater extent pre-morbidly in CFS patients compared with healthy individuals.

A link between unhelpful beliefs and CFS, how surprising. And all based on the dodgy area of personality traits. Add a few numbers and long words and you've got another paper. Why have I got the image of a pot-noodle in my head?

 

[ash0787]

lol just from reading the title I already knew it would be one of the psycobabblers, either crawley or the other one,
they really do put these things out at quite a high rate.

 

[Snow Leopard]

More retrospective nonsense. Even Simon Wessely thinks retrospective studies like this are junk.

Lastly selection bias (eg those who sign up for psychological therapy are more likely to associate psychological factors with their illness) does not give confidence in the results.

 

[Esther12]

Forty-four relatives retrospectively rated the pre-morbid psychological characteristics of the CFS participants.

LOL - WTF. Given the prejudices and stigma that surround CFS, this a rediculous way to assess pre-morbidpsychological characteristics.

 

[Barry53]

I thought there was already a well recognised correlation between stress (combined with other factors) and the onset of ME. So what's new?

 

[A.B.]

LOL - WTF. Given the prejudices and stigma that surround CFS, this a rediculous way to assess pre-morbidpsychological characteristics.

Forty-for civil engineers were asked to rate the pre-collapse integrity of a bridge. They all agreed that problems were clearly visible before the collapse.

 

[Daisymay]

LOL - WTF. Given the prejudices and stigma that surround CFS, this a rediculous way to assess pre-morbidpsychological characteristics.

Quite especially when these relatives will most likely have been primed to view ME through the BPS model and that pandering to their relatives wrong cognitions is harming them etc these family members will have been well and truly brainwashed.

 

[Countrygirl]

Absolutely nothing to do with the above but couldn't Trudie distract herself with this and leave us alone? :

http://guff.com/people-are-becoming...n=20170117&utm_medium=social&utm_term=organic

Academic Alexandre Baril told the National Post, "We define transability as the desire or the need for a person identified as able-bodied by other people to transform his or her body to obtain a physical impairment." The impairment can involve their hearing, sight, limbs, or some combination. Clive Baldwin has interviewed 37 people worldwide who self-identify as transabled. According to the National Post, "Most crave an amputation or paralysis, though he has interviewed one person who wants his penis removed. Another wants to be blind.

Now what happens when they apply to the the DWP for disability payments??

 

[Cheesus]

So they asked patients to rate their perfectionism from 6 months ago, but they didn't ask controls to do the same?

Wow. Great research. Really top notch.

 

[Countrygirl]

So they asked patients to rate their perfectionism from 6 months ago, but they didn't ask controls to do the same?

Wow. Great research. Really top notch.

Impressive isn't it!

How did we manage to churn out scientists of such brilliance???

Makes one so proud to be British!

 

[adreno]

How did we manage to churn out scientists of such brilliance???

What's shocking isn't that Chalder is talentless. It's that she is being paid to be talentless.