Moss-Morris, Rona, Petrie, Keith J · British journal of health psychology · 2003 · DOI
This study looked at how people with ME/CFS interpret ambiguous words and sounds. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients were more likely to interpret unclear words in a physical/health-related way compared to healthy people, and this tendency was linked to how many symptoms they reported. However, the study did not find that ME/CFS patients were more distracted by illness-related words on a color-naming task.
This research provides experimental evidence that ME/CFS patients may have a cognitive bias toward interpreting physical sensations as illness-related, which could contribute to symptom perception and maintenance of the condition. Understanding these cognitive patterns may help inform psychological approaches to managing ME/CFS and clarify the relationship between perception and symptom experience.
This study does not establish causation—it cannot prove that interpretive bias causes symptoms or vice versa, only that they are associated. The study also does not demonstrate attentional bias using the Stroop methodology, so attentional processes may still be involved but require different measurement approaches. The findings are correlational and do not establish whether cognitive biases are a primary feature, a consequence of illness, or both.
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
Moss-Morris, Rona & Petrie, Keith J (2003). Experimental evidence for interpretive but not attention biases towards somatic information in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. British journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910703321649169
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-moss-morris-2003-experimental-evidence,
author = {Moss-Morris, Rona and Petrie, Keith J},
title = {Experimental evidence for interpretive but not attention biases towards somatic information in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {British journal of health psychology},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1348/135910703321649169},
note = {PubMed: 12804333},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/moss-morris-2003-experimental-evidence},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/moss-morris-2003-experimental-evidence
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