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Coping with chronic fatigue syndrome: illness responses and their relationship with fatigue, functional impairment and emotional status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

C. Ray ,
S. Jefferies  and
W. R. C. Weir
C. Ray*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge; Coppetts Wood Hospital, Royal Free Group, London
S. Jefferies
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge; Coppetts Wood Hospital, Royal Free Group, London
W. R. C. Weir
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge; Coppetts Wood Hospital, Royal Free Group, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr C. Ray, Department of Human Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH.
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Synopsis

The implications of patients' approaches to managing chronic fatigue syndrome were examined in a cross-sectional study. With severity of fatigue controlled, attempting to maintain activity was associated with less functional impairment, while accommodating to the illness was positively related to impairment; behavioural disengagement was related not only to higher levels of impairment but also to greater emotional disturbance. Fatigue itself was positively associated with focusing on symptoms and with behavioural disengagement; it was associated also with illness accommodation, but only for illness of longer duration. The causal direction of relationships between coping and fatigue severity is ambiguous, and a follow-up study will address the effects of coping on changes in the illness over time.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , September 1995 , pp. 937 - 945
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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