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Underlying self-esteem in chronic fatigue syndrome
Cathy Creswell1, Trudie Chalder
1Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. c.creswell@ucl.ac.uk
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
|September 10, 2002
Summary
People with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may have lower self-esteem than others, but this is not always evident through direct questioning. Information-processing tests suggest their underlying self-esteem may be lower than reported.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Health Sciences
Background:
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is often associated with psychological distress.
- Previous research has inconsistently reported self-esteem levels in individuals with CFS.
- Overt self-report measures may not fully capture the psychological state of CFS patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate self-esteem in individuals with CFS using both overt and information-processing measures.
- To compare self-esteem levels between CFS patients, healthy volunteers, and chronic illness volunteers.
- To explore potential discrepancies between reported and underlying self-esteem in CFS.
Main Methods:
- Employed a mixed-methods approach with 68 participants (24 CFS, 24 healthy, 20 chronic illness).
- Administered the Self-Statements Questionnaire (SSQ) for overt self-esteem assessment.
- Utilized the Emotional Stroop Test (EST) with neutral, positive, and negative trait words to assess underlying self-esteem.
Main Results:
- Participants with CFS reported significantly lower self-esteem on overt measures compared to control groups.
- The Emotional Stroop Test revealed a greater interference effect with negative words in CFS participants, suggesting deeper underlying self-esteem issues.
- Overt self-esteem reports did not fully account for the observed information-processing effects.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with CFS exhibit lower self-esteem on overt measures, aligning with some previous studies.
- Underlying self-esteem in CFS may be lower than overtly reported, potentially due to defense mechanisms.
- Information-processing measures are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of self-esteem in CFS, complementing self-report data.