Harvey, S B, Wadsworth, M, Wessely, S et al. · Psychological medicine · 2008 · DOI
This study followed over 5,000 people from birth into their 50s to understand whether psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety occur before ME/CFS develops. Researchers found that people who experienced depression or anxiety between ages 15-36 were about 2.5 times more likely to develop ME/CFS later in life. The more severe the psychiatric symptoms were, the higher the risk of developing ME/CFS.
This study addresses a critical gap in understanding ME/CFS by establishing the temporal sequence—psychiatric illness precedes fatigue symptoms—rather than assuming psychiatric problems develop only after becoming ill. This distinction is important for understanding disease mechanisms and may inform prevention and early intervention strategies. The dose-response relationship suggests psychiatric factors play a genuine aetiological role rather than being coincidental.
This study does not prove that psychiatric illness causes ME/CFS; it shows only that psychiatric conditions precede CFS/ME symptoms in some cases. The temporal relationship could reflect shared underlying biological risk factors rather than direct causation. Additionally, findings are based on self-reported diagnoses rather than clinical assessment, and the study cannot address whether psychiatric illness causes ME/CFS in all cases or only a subset of patients.
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
Harvey, S B, Wadsworth, M, Wessely, S, & Hotopf, M (2008). The relationship between prior psychiatric disorder and chronic fatigue: evidence from a national birth cohort study.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291707001900
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-harvey-2008-relationship-between,
author = {Harvey, S B and Wadsworth, M and Wessely, S and Hotopf, M},
title = {The relationship between prior psychiatric disorder and chronic fatigue: evidence from a national birth cohort study.},
journal = {Psychological medicine},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1017/S0033291707001900},
note = {PubMed: 17976252},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/harvey-2008-relationship-between},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/harvey-2008-relationship-between
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.