Post, Robert M, Altshuler, Lori L, Leverich, Gabriele S et al. · Journal of affective disorders · 2013 · DOI
This study looked at whether difficult experiences in childhood (such as abuse or having parents with mental health problems) are connected to physical health problems in adults with bipolar disorder. Over 900 adults answered questions about their childhood and their current medical conditions. The researchers found that people who experienced more childhood adversity tended to have more medical problems as adults, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and several other conditions.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS because chronic fatigue syndrome was one of 11 medical conditions significantly associated with childhood adversity in bipolar patients. Understanding potential links between early trauma and later CFS development could inform prevention and early intervention strategies, and may help explain why some CFS patients report histories of childhood adversity.
This study does not prove that childhood adversity causes these medical conditions—only that they are statistically associated. The cross-sectional design means the directionality of relationships is unclear: medical conditions could influence reporting of childhood experiences, or unmeasured confounders could explain both. The findings are limited to patients with bipolar disorder and may not generalize to ME/CFS populations without bipolar disorder.
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 →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →