Ray, C · Psychological reports · 1992 · DOI
This study looked at how social support affects the emotional well-being of people with ME/CFS. Researchers surveyed 207 patients and found that positive support from others (like encouragement and practical help) was connected to lower anxiety, while negative support (like criticism or dismissal) was linked to both increased anxiety and depression. This suggests that the quality of relationships and social interactions may play a role in how ME/CFS patients experience mental health symptoms.
This research highlights the important connection between social relationships and psychological symptoms in ME/CFS, suggesting that social support may be a modifiable factor affecting patient well-being. Understanding these relationships can inform more holistic treatment approaches and identify patients who may benefit from additional psychosocial support alongside medical care.
This study cannot prove that social support causes changes in anxiety or depression—the relationships could work in reverse (anxious or depressed patients may perceive less positive support) or both could be influenced by other factors. As a cross-sectional snapshot, it does not establish whether improving social support would actually reduce psychiatric symptoms, nor does it clarify which types of support are most beneficial.
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
Ray, C (1992). Positive and negative social support in a chronic illness.. Psychological reports. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3.977
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ray-1992-positive-negative,
author = {Ray, C},
title = {Positive and negative social support in a chronic illness.},
journal = {Psychological reports},
year = {1992},
doi = {10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3.977},
note = {PubMed: 1454951},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ray-1992-positive-negative},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ray-1992-positive-negative
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