(I'm not a fan of these views but it can be useful to know what is being said)
http://www.ehps2015.org/files/EHPS2015_Conference_Abstracts_27082015.pdf
29th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society
http://www.ehps2015.org/files/EHPS2015_Conference_Abstracts_27082015.pdf
29th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society
Oral Presentation Abstracts
Implicit processing of symptom and illness-related information in chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review
A. Hughes1
C. Hirsch 1
T. Chalder 1
R. Moss-Morris 1
1 King's College London, United Kingdom
Background
Cognitive behavioural models propose that the way in which people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
(CFS) process information, specifically how they attend to and interpret illness related information,
may play an important role in symptom maintenance. This systematic review investigates whether
people with CFS have implicit biases in how they process information.
Methods
Electronic databases were searched using CFS and experimental methodology search terms. Twelve
studies measured attention and interpretative bias for illness related information in CFS.
Findings
The evidence for implicit biases was dependant on the methodology employed as well as the type and
duration of the stimuli presented. There was preliminary evidence to suggest that people with CFS
have illness related top down processing biases which affects how information is interpreted and
attended to.
Discussion
A clinical implication of these findings is that such processing biases may maintain negative illness
beliefs and symptoms in people with CFS. This review highlights methodological issues in
experimental design and makes recommendations for future research to forge a consistent approach
in implicit processing research.