Van Campen, Elise, Van Den Eede, Filip, Moorkens, Greta et al. · Psychosomatics · 2009 · DOI
This study looked at whether people with ME/CFS have certain personality traits that might be connected to their illness. Researchers gave a personality questionnaire to 38 people with ME/CFS and 42 healthy people, and found that those with ME/CFS scored higher on two traits: being cautious about potential harm and being persistent in their efforts. The findings suggest that these personality characteristics might play a role in how ME/CFS develops or continues.
Understanding whether specific personality traits are associated with ME/CFS could help explain why some people develop or maintain the illness, and might inform psychotherapy approaches. If these traits play a role in disease perpetuation, targeted interventions addressing them could potentially improve patient outcomes.
This study cannot prove that these personality traits cause ME/CFS—it only shows an association. The cross-sectional design means we cannot determine whether these personality characteristics existed before illness onset or developed as a result of living with ME/CFS. The study also cannot rule out that both the personality traits and CFS share a common underlying biological cause.
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
Van Campen, Elise, Van Den Eede, Filip, Moorkens, Greta, Schotte, Chris, Schacht, Rik, Sabbe, Bernard G C, et al. (2009). Use of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) for assessment of personality in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Psychosomatics. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.50.2.147
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-campen-2009-use-temperament,
author = {Van Campen, Elise and Van Den Eede, Filip and Moorkens, Greta and Schotte, Chris and Schacht, Rik and Sabbe, Bernard G C and Cosyns, Paul and Claes, Stephan J},
title = {Use of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) for assessment of personality in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Psychosomatics},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1176/appi.psy.50.2.147},
note = {PubMed: 19377023},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-campen-2009-use-temperament},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-campen-2009-use-temperament
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