Fry, A M, Martin, M · Journal of psychosomatic research · 1996 · DOI
This study looked at whether children with ME/CFS and their parents perceive their activity levels differently than healthy children do. Researchers used activity monitors (objective measurement) and asked children and parents to estimate activity (subjective measurement) over 3 days. They found that children with ME/CFS and their parents underestimated how much activity was actually happening, and there was a bigger gap between what they expected to do in the future versus what they wanted to do.
Understanding how people with ME/CFS perceive their activity levels is important because misperceptions could influence symptom management and recovery patterns. If patients and families systematically underestimate activity or struggle with realistic expectations about future functioning, this could affect treatment approaches and inform cognitive-behavioral interventions.
This study does not prove that cognitive distortions cause ME/CFS or that they are the primary driver of the condition. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation or determine whether these cognitive patterns precede illness onset, develop as a response to chronic illness, or both. Correlation between cognitive patterns and CFS does not exclude biological contributors to the condition.
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
Fry, A M & Martin, M (1996). Cognitive idiosyncrasies among children with the chronic fatigue syndrome: anomalies in self-reported activity levels.. Journal of psychosomatic research. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(96)00036-0
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-fry-1996-cognitive-idiosyncrasies,
author = {Fry, A M and Martin, M},
title = {Cognitive idiosyncrasies among children with the chronic fatigue syndrome: anomalies in self-reported activity levels.},
journal = {Journal of psychosomatic research},
year = {1996},
doi = {10.1016/0022-3999(96)00036-0},
note = {PubMed: 8910244},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fry-1996-cognitive-idiosyncrasies},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fry-1996-cognitive-idiosyncrasies
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