Christodoulou, C, Deluca, J, Johnson, S K et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 1999 · DOI
This study looked at personality traits in people with ME/CFS compared to healthy people and those with multiple sclerosis (MS). The researchers used a personality framework that measures how people respond to harm, seek rewards, and persist with goals. Both ME/CFS and MS patients showed similar patterns: they were more cautious about potential harm and less focused on social rewards than healthy controls.
Understanding personality characteristics in ME/CFS may help clinicians recognize common psychological patterns and tailor support appropriately. Comparing ME/CFS to MS—a condition with established neurological pathology—provides context for whether personality changes in ME/CFS reflect illness-related adaptation or disease-specific mechanisms.
This study does not prove that personality traits cause ME/CFS or determine disease outcome. It cannot establish whether elevated harm avoidance and reduced reward dependence exist before illness onset or develop as a consequence of living with chronic fatigue. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of causal relationships.
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
Christodoulou, C, Deluca, J, Johnson, S K, Lange, G, Gaudino, E A, & Natelson, B H (1999). Examination of Cloninger's basic dimensions of personality in fatiguing illness: chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis.. Journal of psychosomatic research. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(99)00063-x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-christodoulou-1999-examination-cloninger,
author = {Christodoulou, C and Deluca, J and Johnson, S K and Lange, G and Gaudino, E A and Natelson, B H},
title = {Examination of Cloninger's basic dimensions of personality in fatiguing illness: chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis.},
journal = {Journal of psychosomatic research},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.1016/s0022-3999(99)00063-x},
note = {PubMed: 10661606},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/christodoulou-1999-examination-cloninger},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/christodoulou-1999-examination-cloninger
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