Knight, Sarah J, Scheinberg, Adam, Harvey, Adrienne R · The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2013 · DOI
This review looked at 21 different studies testing various treatments for ME/CFS in children and teenagers. The researchers found that talking therapies based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) showed the most promise, while rehabilitation programs showed weaker results. However, the studies were quite different from each other, making it hard to draw strong conclusions about what works best.
This is the first comprehensive review to evaluate what treatments actually help children and teenagers with ME/CFS, providing both patients and doctors with an overview of current evidence. Understanding which approaches show promise is crucial for developing better care strategies, as children with ME/CFS face particular challenges with education, development, and quality of life.
This review does not prove that any single treatment definitively cures or significantly improves ME/CFS in children; the studies reviewed had significant methodological limitations and inconsistent results. It also does not establish which treatments work best for individual patients, as responses vary widely. The review cannot determine causation or explain the mechanisms behind why certain interventions might help.
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
Knight, Sarah J, Scheinberg, Adam, & Harvey, Adrienne R (2013). Interventions in pediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review.. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.03.009
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-knight-2013-interventions-pediatric,
author = {Knight, Sarah J and Scheinberg, Adam and Harvey, Adrienne R},
title = {Interventions in pediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review.},
journal = {The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.03.009},
note = {PubMed: 23643337},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/knight-2013-interventions-pediatric},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/knight-2013-interventions-pediatric
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