title: Self-esteem mediates the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in chronic fatigue syndrome.
abstract: Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often experience depression which may negatively affect prognosis and treatment outcome. Research has shown that depression in CFS is associated with maladaptive or self-critical perfectionism. However, currently, little is known about factors that may explain this relationship, but studies in nonclinical samples suggest that low self-esteem may be an important mediator of this relationship. The present study therefore examined whether self-esteem mediated the cross-sectional association between maladaptive perfectionism and severity of depression in 192 patients meeting Centres for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for CFS. Patients completed self-report measures of maladaptive perfectionism, self-esteem, depression, and fatigue. Regression analyses and more direct tests of indirect effects (i.e., the Sobel test and bootstrapping) were used to test for mediation. Congruent with expectations, we found that self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in CFS. Findings from this study suggest that self-esteem may explain the link between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in CFS, which may have important implications for the treatment and prevention of depression in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. stefan.kempke@psy.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kempke
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luyten
authors.forename: Boudewijn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Houdenhove
authors.forename: Lutgarde
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bekaert
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Wambeke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index