Wells, Charlotte, Christie, Deborah, Johnston, Rebecca et al. · European journal of pediatrics · 2026 · DOI
This study tested whether a treatment combining breathing retraining and talk therapy could help young people (ages 12–18) recover from long COVID symptoms. Thirty-two young people received either standard care alone or standard care plus the new intervention over 6 months. Most participants found the intervention helpful and it was practical to run in an NHS clinic, but both groups improved similarly over time, suggesting that natural recovery, rather than the intervention itself, may have driven the improvements.
Post-COVID syndrome in young people causes significant physical and mental health burden with few evidence-based interventions. This study identifies breathing pattern disorders as a predominant mechanism of breathlessness in adolescent post-COVID patients and demonstrates that multi-modal, co-designed interventions can be delivered acceptably in routine NHS care—laying groundwork for larger efficacy trials.
This study does not prove the intervention is effective; improvements occurred equally in both groups, meaning natural recovery over time cannot be distinguished from any intervention effect. The small sample size and lack of long-term follow-up also prevent conclusions about sustained benefit or durability of symptom improvement.
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
Wells, Charlotte, Christie, Deborah, Johnston, Rebecca, Knight, Faye, Samuel, Monica, Segal, Terry Y, et al. (2026). The breath and mind connection in young people with post-COVID syndrome: feasibility and acceptability of a pilot randomised co-designed intervention.. European journal of pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-026-06840-7
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wells-2026-breath-mind,
author = {Wells, Charlotte and Christie, Deborah and Johnston, Rebecca and Knight, Faye and Samuel, Monica and Segal, Terry Y and Shevlin, Mark and Sparrow, Rachel and Woodman, Deborah and Sonnappa, Samatha},
title = {The breath and mind connection in young people with post-COVID syndrome: feasibility and acceptability of a pilot randomised co-designed intervention.},
journal = {European journal of pediatrics},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1007/s00431-026-06840-7},
note = {PubMed: 41840063},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wells-2026-breath-mind},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wells-2026-breath-mind
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