Daniels, Jo, Brigden, Amberly, Kacorova, Adela · Psychology and psychotherapy · 2017 · DOI
This study looked at how many people with ME/CFS also experience health anxiety—worry about physical symptoms and their meaning. Researchers surveyed 45 ME/CFS patients and found that most had elevated worry about their health, and many had clinically significant health anxiety. The findings suggest that health anxiety is common in ME/CFS and may be worth screening for and treating.
Health anxiety in ME/CFS has been under-researched despite potential clinical importance. This preliminary study highlights a frequently overlooked psychological dimension that may significantly impact symptom management, treatment adherence, and clinical outcomes. Understanding co-occurring health anxiety could lead to more effective, personalized treatment strategies for this complex condition.
This study does not establish causality—it cannot determine whether health anxiety causes ME/CFS symptoms, develops as a response to them, or whether both conditions independently co-occur. The small sample size and cross-sectional design limit generalizability to broader ME/CFS populations. The study does not evaluate how health anxiety specifically influences treatment outcomes or prognosis in ME/CFS.
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
Daniels, Jo, Brigden, Amberly, & Kacorova, Adela (2017). Anxiety and depression in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): Examining the incidence of health anxiety in CFS/ME.. Psychology and psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12118
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-daniels-2017-anxiety-depression,
author = {Daniels, Jo and Brigden, Amberly and Kacorova, Adela},
title = {Anxiety and depression in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): Examining the incidence of health anxiety in CFS/ME.},
journal = {Psychology and psychotherapy},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1111/papt.12118},
note = {PubMed: 28244209},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/daniels-2017-anxiety-depression},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/daniels-2017-anxiety-depression
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