Garralda, M Elena, Rangel, Luiza · European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2005 · DOI
This study compared children diagnosed with ME/CFS to children with emotional disorders like anxiety and depression to see how these conditions differ. While both groups of children experienced some similar emotional challenges, children with ME/CFS reported more severe tiredness and physical symptoms, and were more likely to have had infections or medical problems before getting sick. The results show that ME/CFS and emotional disorders can look similar in some ways but have important differences.
This study helps distinguish ME/CFS from psychiatric conditions in children, which is important because misdiagnosis can lead to inappropriate treatment. Understanding the differences—particularly the prominence of physical symptoms and infection history in CFS—supports recognition of ME/CFS as a legitimate medical condition rather than purely psychological. For patients and families, this research validates that ME/CFS, even when it occurs alongside emotional difficulties, has distinct biological features.
This study does not prove that emotional disorders cause ME/CFS or vice versa; it only shows differences in presentation. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or whether the infections and medical problems preceded or resulted from CFS. The small sample size (28 CFS cases) limits how well these findings apply to all children with ME/CFS across different populations.
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
Garralda, M Elena & Rangel, Luiza (2005). Chronic fatigue syndrome of childhood. Comparative study with emotional disorders.. European child & adolescent psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-005-0493-4
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-garralda-2005-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Garralda, M Elena and Rangel, Luiza},
title = {Chronic fatigue syndrome of childhood. Comparative study with emotional disorders.},
journal = {European child & adolescent psychiatry},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1007/s00787-005-0493-4},
note = {PubMed: 16341498},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/garralda-2005-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/garralda-2005-chronic-fatigue
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