Calvo, Natalia, Sáez-Francàs, Naia, Valero, Sergi et al. · Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2015
This study looked at whether people with ME/CFS are more likely to have personality disorders—long-standing patterns of thinking and behavior that can affect how someone relates to others. Researchers assessed 132 ME/CFS patients and found that about half had traits associated with personality disorders, particularly obsessive-compulsive and avoidant patterns. Patients with these personality traits also reported more depression, irritability, and guilt.
Understanding the relationship between personality traits and psychiatric symptoms in ME/CFS may help clinicians identify patients who need additional psychological support and tailor interventions. This research highlights that ME/CFS is often accompanied by complex mental health presentations that warrant integrated care approaches rather than treating fatigue in isolation.
This study does not prove that personality disorders cause ME/CFS or vice versa—it only shows they occur together more often than chance. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether personality traits preceded illness onset or developed as a response to chronic illness. The study also cannot establish whether these personality patterns are primary psychological conditions or secondary adaptations to prolonged fatigue and disability.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Calvo, Natalia, Sáez-Francàs, Naia, Valero, Sergi, Alegre, José, & Casas, Miguel (2015). Comorbid personality disorders in chronic fatigue syndrome patients: a marker of psychopathological severity.. Actas espanolas de psiquiatria. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25812543/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-calvo-2015-comorbid-personality,
author = {Calvo, Natalia and Sáez-Francàs, Naia and Valero, Sergi and Alegre, José and Casas, Miguel},
title = {Comorbid personality disorders in chronic fatigue syndrome patients: a marker of psychopathological severity.},
journal = {Actas espanolas de psiquiatria},
year = {2015},
note = {PubMed: 25812543},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/calvo-2015-comorbid-personality},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/calvo-2015-comorbid-personality
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