Mihelicova, Martina, Siegel, Zachary, Evans, Meredyth et al. · Journal of health psychology · 2016 · DOI
This study listened to parents who care for severely ill ME/CFS patients and asked about their experiences. Researchers found that parents often feel their identity has changed, experience guilt, feel isolated from others, deal with uncertainty about the future, and develop ways to cope with the demands of caregiving. The study provides important insights that could help healthcare providers better support and understand these caregivers.
Parent-carers of severely affected ME/CFS patients are often overlooked in research and clinical settings despite bearing significant physical, emotional, and financial burdens. Understanding their lived experiences and psychological needs can inform the design of caregiver support programs and help healthcare professionals provide more compassionate, holistic care to ME/CFS families.
This qualitative study does not establish the prevalence of identified themes across the broader ME/CFS caregiver population, nor does it prove causality between caregiving and specific psychological outcomes. The findings reflect subjective experiences and may not generalize to all parent-carers, particularly those from different cultural, socioeconomic, or geographic backgrounds.
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
Mihelicova, Martina, Siegel, Zachary, Evans, Meredyth, Brown, Abigail, & Jason, Leonard (2016). Caring for people with severe myalgic encephalomyelitis: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of parents' experiences.. Journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315587137
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mihelicova-2016-caring-people,
author = {Mihelicova, Martina and Siegel, Zachary and Evans, Meredyth and Brown, Abigail and Jason, Leonard},
title = {Caring for people with severe myalgic encephalomyelitis: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of parents' experiences.},
journal = {Journal of health psychology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1177/1359105315587137},
note = {PubMed: 26063209},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mihelicova-2016-caring-people},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mihelicova-2016-caring-people
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