Health-related personality variables in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and multiple sclerosis

This study investigated personality variables in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), with healthy, sedentary subjects as controls. CFS and MS groups were higher on alexithymia, characterized as difficulty in describing and differentiating emotions and marked externalization. CFS and MS groups reported a more depressive attributional style than healthy participants, reflecting beliefs that causes for good events are not diffused into other areas of life while causes for bad events will always be present. The CFS group was significantly lower on doctors/others locus of control indicating lack of trust in medical professionals. Results indicate that CFS and MS are similar to each other while different from the healthy group on certain personality variables that likely reflect the demoralizing effects of coping with a chronic, disabling illness marked by uncertainty.