Loades, Maria E, Sheils, Elizabeth A, Crawley, Esther · BMJ open · 2016 · DOI
This review looked at studies treating depression in children and teens with ME/CFS, since about one-third of young people with ME/CFS also experience depression. The researchers found that while some treatments like cognitive-behavioural therapy and specialized hospital programmes showed some promise in helping with depression symptoms, there are no studies specifically designed to test what works best for depression in young people with ME/CFS. This means we still don't have clear answers about the best way to help these young people.
This systematic review highlights a critical gap in paediatric ME/CFS care: the lack of evidence-based treatment approaches for the substantial proportion of young people experiencing comorbid depression. Understanding how to effectively treat depression in this population is essential for improving quality of life and treatment outcomes, as depression may complicate ME/CFS recovery and vice versa.
This review does not establish which specific treatments are most effective for depression in paediatric ME/CFS, nor does it prove whether depression causes worse ME/CFS outcomes or merely reflects disease burden. The absence of dedicated studies means we cannot determine whether depression requires specialized treatment approaches in this population or whether standard depression treatments are appropriate.
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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Primary citation
Loades, Maria E, Sheils, Elizabeth A, & Crawley, Esther (2016). Treatment for paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and comorbid depression: a systematic review.. BMJ open. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012271
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-loades-2016-treatment-paediatric,
author = {Loades, Maria E and Sheils, Elizabeth A and Crawley, Esther},
title = {Treatment for paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and comorbid depression: a systematic review.},
journal = {BMJ open},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012271},
note = {PubMed: 27729349},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/loades-2016-treatment-paediatric},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/loades-2016-treatment-paediatric
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