Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T11:25:15.370Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perceived Experience of Fatigue in Clinical and General Population: Descriptors and Associated Reactivities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

Sandra Fuentes-Márquez ,
Cristina Senín-Calderón ,
Juan F. Rodríguez-Testal  and
Miguel A. Carrasco
Sandra Fuentes-Márquez
Affiliation:
Hospital Juan Ramón Jiménez (Spain)
Cristina Senín-Calderón
Affiliation:
Universidad de Cádiz (Spain)
Juan F. Rodríguez-Testal
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Miguel A. Carrasco*
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miguel Ángel Carrasco Ortiz. Departamento de Psicología de la personalidad, evaluación y tratamientos psicológicos. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. C/ Juan del Rosal, 10. 28040. Madrid (Spain). E-mail: macarrasco@psi.uned.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this study is the analysis of different descriptors and reactions related to the experience of fatigue. Two groups were compared: a clinical sample (n = 92, 31 males, mean age = 38.87) and a non-clinical (n = 225, 135 males, mean age = 32.45) sample. The total sample was composed of 317 participants (52% males), ranging in age from 18 to 76 years. Findings show the experience of fatigue was mainly related to somatic terms (76% of the total sample). Specific results were found only for the clinical group: (a) significant relationships between fatigue and anxiety, χ2(1) = 34.71, p < .01; tension, χ2(1) = 16.80, p < .01; and sadness, χ2(1) = 24.59, p < .01; (b) higher intensity of fatigue (F = 84.15, p = .001), and predominance of the cognitive components of fatigue. Results showed that fatigue in subjects with a clinical disorder (versus those without) was associated both, to negative emotional states, and to a higher intensity of fatigue, especially in its cognitive elements. Important clinical implications for its assessment and intervention are discussed.

Keywords

fatiguenegative emotionssomatic descriptors
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 18 , 2015 , E9
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addington, A. M., Gallo, J. J., Ford, D. E., & Eaton, W. W. (2001). Epidemiology of unexplained fatigue and major depression in the community: The Baltimore ECA follow-up, 1981–1994. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1037–1044. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291701004214 Google Scholar
Afari, N., & Buchwald, D. (2003). Chronic fatigue syndrome: A review. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 221–236. http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.2.221 Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, text revision. DSM IV-TR (4 th Ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, DSM-5. Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Beck, A., & Alford, B. A. (2009). Depression: Causes and treatment (2 nd Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Berrios, G. E. (2000). Concepto de psicopatología descriptiva [Concept of descriptive pschopathology]. In Luque, R. & Villagrán, J. M. (Eds.), Psicopatología descriptiva: Nuevas tendencias [Descriptive psychopathology: New trends] (pp. 109–145). Madrid, Spain: Trotta.Google Scholar
Brown, L., & Kroenke, K. (2009). Cancer-related fatigue and its associations with depression and anxiety: A systematic review. Psychosomatics, 50, 440–447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.50.5.440 Google Scholar
Caballo, V. E., Salazar, I. C., & Carrobles, J. A. (Dirs.) (2011). Manual de Psicopatología y trastornos psicológicos [Handbook of psychopathology and psychological disorders] . Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.Google Scholar
Chalder, T., Berelowitz, G., Pawlikowska, T., Watts, L., Wessely, S., Wright, D., & Wallace, E. P. (1993). Development of a fatigue scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 37, 147–153. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(93)90081-P Google Scholar
Chaudhuri, A., & Behan, P. O. (2004). Fatigue in neurological disorders. The Lancet, 363, 978–988. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)15794-2 Google Scholar
Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. (2009). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Costello, C. G. (1992). Research on symptoms versus research on syndromes. Arguments in favor of allocating more research time to the study of symptoms. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 304–308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.160.3.304 Google Scholar
De Vries, J., & Van Heck, G. L. (2002). Fatigue: Relationships with basic personality and temperament dimensions. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1311–1324. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00015-6 Google Scholar
Deale, A., Chalder, T., Marks, I., & Wessely, S. (1997). Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 408–414.Google Scholar
Demyttenaere, K., De Fruyt, J., & Stahl, S. M. (2005). The many faces of fatigue in major depressive disorder. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 8, 93–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1461145704004729 Google Scholar
Doyle, F., Conroy, R., McGee, H., & Delaney, M. (2010). Depressive symptoms in persons with acute coronary syndrome: Specific symptom scales and prognosis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68, 121–130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.07.013 Google Scholar
Fukuda, K., Straus, S., Hickie, I., Sharpe, M., Dobbins, J., Komaroff, A., & International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study Group. (1994). The chronic fatigue syndrome: A comprehensive approach to its definition and study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 121, 953–959. http://dx.doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-121-12-199412150-00009 Google Scholar
Goldstein, A. N., Greer, S. M., Saletin, J. M., Harvey, A. G., Nitschke, J. B., & Walker, M. P. (2013). Tired and apprehensive: Anxiety amplifies the impact of sleep loss on aversive brain anticipation. The Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 10607–10615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5578-12.2013 Google Scholar
Grupe, D. W., & Nitschke, J. B (2013). Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety: An integrated neurobiological and psychological perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14, 488–501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrn3524 Google Scholar
Hadlandsmyth, K., & Vowles, K. E. (2009). Does depression mediate the relation between fatigue severity and disability in chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66, 31–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.08.002 Google Scholar
Helbig-Lang, S., Lang, T., Petermann, F., & Hoyer, J. (2012). Anticipatory anxiety as a function of panic attacks and panic-related self-efficacy: An ambulatory assessment study in panic disorder. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40, 590–604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1352465812000057 Google Scholar
Hernández, P., Berrios, G. E., & Bulbena, A. (2000). Concepto y evaluación de la sensación de fatiga [Concept and assesment of the sensation of fatigue]. In Bulbena Vilarrasa, A., Berrios, G. E., & Fernández, P., Medición clínica en psiquiatría y psicología [Clinical measurement in psychiatry and psychology] (pp. 125–135). Barcelona, Spain: Masson.Google Scholar
Hickie, I., Davenport, T., Issakidis, C., & Andrews, G. (2002). Neurasthenia: Prevalence, disability and health care characteristics in the Australian community. British Journal of Psychiatry, 181, 56–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.181.1.56 Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. A. (1975). Five Factor Index of social position. Unpublished manuscript. Yale University. New Haven, CT.Google Scholar
Kluger, B. M., Krupp, L. B., & Enoka, R. M. (2013). Fatigue and fatigability in neurologic illnesses: Proposal for a unified taxonomy. Neurology, 80, 409–416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e31827f07be Google Scholar
Kroenke, K., & Price, R. K. (1993). Symptoms in the community. Prevalence, classification, and psychiatric comorbidity. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153, 2474–2480. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1993.00410210102011 Google Scholar
Lou, J. S. (2009). Physical and mental fatigue in Parkinson’s disease: Epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment. Drugs & Aging, 26, 195–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/00002512-200926030-00002 Google Scholar
Mason, P., & Wilkinson, G. (1996). The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 1–3.Google Scholar
Michielsen, H. J., De Vries, J., Van Heck, G. L., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Sijtsma, K. (2004). Examination of the dimensionality of fatigue. The construction of the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 20, 39–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027//1015-5759.20.1.39 Google Scholar
Moss-Morris, R., & Petrie, K. (2001). Discriminating between chronic fatigue syndrome and depression: A cognitive analysis. Psychological Medicine, 31, 469–479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291701003610 Google Scholar
Noonan, M., Lindner, H., & Walker, K. (2010). Chronic fatigue syndrome severity and depression: The role of secondary beliefs. Journal of Rational-Emotive Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 28, 73–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10942-009-0101-5 Google Scholar
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) (1992). Trastornos mentales y del comportamiento. CIE-10. [International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10] (10 th Ed.). Madrid, Spain: Meditor.Google Scholar
Orsat, M., Ernoul, A., Canet, J., Grandin-Goldstein, E., & Richard-Devantoy, S. (2013). La neurasthénie du XIX siècle au XXI siècle: figures et masques de la première maladie psychosomatique [Neurasthenia in the nineteenth century: figures and masks of the first psychosomatic illness]. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, 171, 357–361.Google Scholar
Pawlikowska, T., Chalder, T., Hirsch, S. R., Wallace, P., Wright, D. J. M., & Wessely, S. C. (1994). Population based study of fatigue and psychological distress. British Medical Journal, 308, 763–766. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.308.6931.763 Google Scholar
Pérez Álvarez, M. (2012). Las raíces de la psicopatología moderna. La melancolía y la esquizofrenia [The roots of modern psychopathology: The melancholy and schizophrenia] . Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.Google Scholar
Priebe, S., Fakhoury, W. K. H., & Henningsen, P. (2008). Functional incapacity and physical and psychological symptoms: How they interconnect in chronic fatigue syndrome. Psychopathology, 41, 339–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000152375 Google Scholar
Rey-González, A., & Livianos-Aldana, L. (2000). La psiquiatría y sus nombres. diccionario de epónimos [Psychiatry and its names. dictionary of eponyms] . Madrid, Spain: Panamericana.Google Scholar
Robert, P., Onyike, C. U., Leentjens, A. F., Dujardin, K., Aalten, P., Starkstein, S., ... Byrne, J. (2009). Proposed diagnostic criteria for apathy in Alzheimer’s disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders. European Psychiatry, 24, 98–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2008.09.001 Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Testal, J. F., & Mesa-Cid, P. J. (Coord.) (2011). Psicopatología clínica [Clinical Psychopathology] . Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.Google Scholar
Ruscio, A. M., Seitchik, A. E., Gentes, E. L., Jones, J. D., & Hallion, L. S. (2011). Perseverative thought: A robust predictor of response to emotional challenge in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 867–874. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.10.001 Google Scholar
Sáez-Francàs, N., Alegre, J., Calvo, N., Ramos-Quiroga, J. A., Ruiz, E., Hernández-Vara, J., & Casas Brugué, M. (2012). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome patients. Psychiatry Research, 200, 748–753.Google Scholar
Sáez-Francàs, N., Hernández-Vara, J., Corominas Roso, M., Alegre Martín, J., & Casas Brugué, M. (2013). The association of apathy with central fatigue perception in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Behavioral Neuroscience, 127, 237–244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0031531 Google Scholar
Sáez-Francàs, N., Hernández-Vara, J., Corominas-Roso, M., Alegre, J., Jacas, C., & Casas, M. (2014). Relationship between poor decision-making process and fatigue perception in Parkinson’s disease patients. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 337, 167–172. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2013.12.003 Google Scholar
Schneider, K. (1997). Psicopatología clínica [Clinical psychopathology] . Madrid, Spain: Fundación Archivos de Neurobiología (Original work published 1946).Google Scholar
Swindle, R., Kroenke, K., & Braun, L. A. (2001). Energy and improved workplace productivity in depression. In Sorkin, A., Summers, K., Farquhar, I. (Eds.), Investing in health: The social and economic benefits of health care innovation (Vol. 14, pp. 323–341). Greenwich, CT: Elsevier Science Ltd.Google Scholar
Tylee, A., Gastpar, M., Lépine, J. P., & Mendlewicz, J. (1999). DEPRES II (Depression Research in European Society II): A patient survey of the symptoms, disability and current management of depression in the community. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 14, 139–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004850-199905002-00001 Google Scholar
Walker, E. A., Katon, W. J., & Jemelka, R. P. (1993). Psychiatric disorders and medical care utilization among people in the general population who report fatigue. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 8, 436–440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02599621 Google Scholar
Wessely, S., & White, P. D. (2004). In debate: There is only one functional somatic syndrome. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 95–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.185.2.95 Google Scholar
Wessely, S., Chalder, T., Hirsch, S., Wallace, P., & Wright, D. (1996). Psychological symptoms, somatic symptoms, and psychiatric disorder in chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome: A prospective study in the primary care setting. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 1050–1059.Google Scholar
White, P. D. (2010). Chronic fatigue syndrome: Is it one discrete syndrome or many? Implications for the “one vs. many” functional somatic syndromes debate. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68, 455–459. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.01.008 Google Scholar
Zautra, A. J., Fasman, R., Reich, J. W., Harakas, P., Johnson, L. M., Olmsted, M. E., & Davis, M. C. (2005). Fibromyalgia: Evidence for deficits in positive affect regulation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67, 147–155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000146328.52009.23 Google Scholar