Velleman, Sophie, Collin, Simon M, Beasant, Lucy et al. · Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2016 · DOI
This study looked at how having a brother or sister with ME/CFS affects the healthy siblings in the family. Researchers asked 34 siblings to answer questions about their mood, anxiety, and quality of life, and found that siblings had higher anxiety levels than other young people their age. When researchers talked in detail with nine of these siblings, they learned that the condition creates stress on family life, leaves siblings confused about what's happening, and can make them feel socially isolated—but good communication and family support can help.
ME/CFS research has traditionally focused on affected patients, but this study highlights an overlooked population—siblings—who experience measurable psychological impacts. Understanding the broader family burden of ME/CFS is essential for holistic paediatric care and designing interventions that support entire households affected by the condition.
This study does not establish causation or long-term outcomes; it is a cross-sectional snapshot and cannot determine whether anxiety preceded or resulted from having a sibling with ME/CFS. The small sample size and self-selected participants limit generalisability. The study also does not compare siblings' outcomes across different family structures or ME/CFS severity levels.
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
Velleman, Sophie, Collin, Simon M, Beasant, Lucy, & Crawley, Esther (2016). Psychological wellbeing and quality-of-life among siblings of paediatric CFS/ME patients: A mixed-methods study.. Clinical child psychology and psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104515602373
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-velleman-2016-psychological-wellbeing,
author = {Velleman, Sophie and Collin, Simon M and Beasant, Lucy and Crawley, Esther},
title = {Psychological wellbeing and quality-of-life among siblings of paediatric CFS/ME patients: A mixed-methods study.},
journal = {Clinical child psychology and psychiatry},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1177/1359104515602373},
note = {PubMed: 26395764},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/velleman-2016-psychological-wellbeing},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/velleman-2016-psychological-wellbeing
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