E2 ModerateModerate confidencePEM not requiredCase-ControlPeer-reviewedReviewed
Prevalence of DSM-IV personality disorders in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a controlled study.
Kempke, Stefan, Van Den Eede, Filip, Schotte, Chris et al. · International journal of behavioral medicine · 2013 · DOI
Quick Summary
This study tested whether people with ME/CFS have more personality disorders than the general population. Researchers gave 92 women with ME/CFS and two comparison groups (92 community members and 92 psychiatric patients) a questionnaire about personality traits. The results showed that ME/CFS patients had personality disorder rates similar to healthy people, not higher rates, though they did show some depressive and obsessive-compulsive traits.
Why It Matters
This research directly addresses a common misconception that ME/CFS is primarily a psychological or personality disorder. By demonstrating that ME/CFS patients have personality disorder rates similar to the general population, it supports the view that ME/CFS is a distinct medical condition, not a manifestation of underlying personality pathology.
Observed Findings
- CFS patients showed a 16.3% prevalence of personality disorders, matching community controls and significantly lower than psychiatric patients (58.7%).
- CFS patients had significantly higher Depressive personality disorder features compared to normal controls.
- CFS patients showed similar Obsessive-Compulsive personality features to psychiatric controls.
- Dimensional and pseudodimensional personality scores in CFS were largely similar to community controls.
Inferred Conclusions
- ME/CFS is not generally characterized by elevated axis II pathology compared to the general population.
- Although some depressive and obsessive-compulsive personality traits are more common in CFS, these do not constitute a distinct personality disorder pattern.
- Future research using multiple personality assessment measures is needed to clarify personality features in ME/CFS.
Remaining Questions
- Do personality features in ME/CFS differ between male and female patients, given this study only examined women?
- Are depressive and obsessive-compulsive traits in ME/CFS pre-existing characteristics or secondary reactions to illness burden?
- How do personality features correlate with disease severity, symptom duration, or specific ME/CFS symptom clusters?
What This Study Does Not Prove
This study does not establish causation or demonstrate whether any observed personality features are a cause or consequence of ME/CFS. The cross-sectional design cannot determine temporal relationships, and findings in this female-only sample may not generalize to male patients with ME/CFS.
Tags
Symptom:Fatigue
Method Flag:Weak Case DefinitionSmall SampleExploratory Only
Metadata
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12529-012-9273-y
- PMID
- 23065435
- Review status
- Editor reviewed
- Evidence level
- Single-study or moderate support from human research
- Last updated
- 12 April 2026
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 →
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