Harris, Kamelia, Band, Rebecca J, Cooper, Hazel et al. · British journal of health psychology · 2016 · DOI
This review looked at six studies examining how ME/CFS affects the emotional health of family members and partners of patients. Most studies found that loved ones experience significant stress and worry. The review discovered that supporters feel more distressed when they blame the patient for their symptoms, when they are female, or when the patient is struggling with mental health issues. However, one study suggested that accepting the illness could help reduce this stress.
Understanding the impact of ME/CFS on family and partner well-being is essential for comprehensive patient care. This review highlights that supporters need recognition and support as they navigate the challenges of caring for someone with a complex, poorly understood illness. Better understanding of caregiver burden can inform interventions that help both patients and their support networks.
This review cannot establish causation—it shows associations between certain factors (like attribution of responsibility) and distress but does not prove these factors cause distress. The small number of studies and mixed findings (especially the contradictory qualitative study) mean conclusions about distress levels remain preliminary. The review also does not assess how interventions might reduce distress in significant others.
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
Harris, Kamelia, Band, Rebecca J, Cooper, Hazel, Macintyre, Vanessa G, Mejia, Anilena, & Wearden, Alison J (2016). Distress in significant others of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review of the literature.. British journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12202
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-harris-2016-distress-significant,
author = {Harris, Kamelia and Band, Rebecca J and Cooper, Hazel and Macintyre, Vanessa G and Mejia, Anilena and Wearden, Alison J},
title = {Distress in significant others of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review of the literature.},
journal = {British journal of health psychology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1111/bjhp.12202},
note = {PubMed: 27255790},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/harris-2016-distress-significant},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/harris-2016-distress-significant
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.