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. 2022 Sep;27(10):2291-2304.
doi: 10.1177/13591053211027631. Epub 2021 Jul 9.

Causal attributions and perceived stigma for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Laura Froehlich  1 , Daniel Br Hattesohl  2 , Joseph Cotler  3 , Leonard A Jason  3 , Carmen Scheibenbogen  4 , Uta Behrends  5
Affiliations

Causal attributions and perceived stigma for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Laura Froehlich et al. J Health Psychol. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic disease with the hallmark symptom of post-exertional malaise. Evidence for physiological causes is converging, however, currently no diagnostic test or biomarker is available. People with ME/CFS experience stigmatization, including the perception that the disease is psychosomatic. In a sample of 499 participants with self-diagnosed ME/CFS, we investigated perceived stigma as a pathway through which perceived others' causal attributions relate to lower satisfaction with social roles and activities and functional status. Higher perceived attributions by others to controllable and unstable causes predicted lower health-related and social outcomes via higher perceived stigma.

Keywords: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; ME/CFS; Myalgic Encephalomyelitis; causal attributions; stigma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Data sharing statement: The current article includes the complete raw data-set collected in the study including the participants’ data set, syntax file, and log files for analysis. Pending acceptance for publication, all of the data files will be automatically uploaded to the Figshare repository. The data that support the findings of this study are openly available on the Open Science Framework at [https://osf.io/spd9u/].

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Results of the path model according to hypotheses (results for complete model are displayed in Table 3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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