Martin, Maryanne, Alexeeva, Iana · British journal of health psychology · 2010 · DOI
This study looked at whether people with ME/CFS have a tendency to automatically focus their attention on illness-related information, and whether they interpret ambiguous words in an illness-focused way. The researchers found that people with ME/CFS did not show these automatic biases. However, they did find that people with ME/CFS experienced greater mood swings when they spent time thinking repetitively about their condition (rumination) compared to when they were distracted.
Understanding the cognitive and emotional patterns in ME/CFS helps researchers and clinicians better tailor psychological interventions. This study is important because it clarifies that cognitive biases operate differently in ME/CFS than in some other conditions like anxiety disorders, which may require different treatment approaches. The finding about mood volatility with rumination has implications for advising patients about cognitive strategies.
This study does not prove that rumination causes mood volatility in ME/CFS or that rumination is harmful at a neurobiological level—it only shows an association in this experimental setting. The findings do not rule out the possibility that attention and interpretation biases exist at different stages of information processing beyond those tested, or in different contexts outside the laboratory. Cross-sectional observations cannot establish whether mood volatility predates ME/CFS or results from it.
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
Martin, Maryanne & Alexeeva, Iana (2010). Mood volatility with rumination but neither attentional nor interpretation biases in chronic fatigue syndrome.. British journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910709X480346
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-martin-2010-mood-volatility,
author = {Martin, Maryanne and Alexeeva, Iana},
title = {Mood volatility with rumination but neither attentional nor interpretation biases in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {British journal of health psychology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1348/135910709X480346},
note = {PubMed: 20100398},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/martin-2010-mood-volatility},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/martin-2010-mood-volatility
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