title: The prevalence and impact of early childhood trauma in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although some studies have found high rates of early childhood trauma in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), the role of early trauma in this condition remains controversial.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study examined the prevalence of early childhood trauma and its impact on daily fatigue and pain levels over a 14-day period in a sample of 90 carefully screened CFS patients using a diary method approach. Data were analyzed using multilevel analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of the patients (54.4%) had experienced at least one type of early trauma, with the majority of these patients reporting multiple traumas. Prevalence rates were particularly high for emotional trauma (i.e., emotional abuse and/or emotional neglect) (46.7%). Moreover, total trauma scores and emotional abuse significantly predicted higher levels of daily fatigue and pain over the 14-day period, even when controlling for demographic features and depressed mood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate that early childhood trauma predicts increasing levels of core symptoms of CFS in the daily flow of life. Moreover, findings of this study suggest that emotional trauma may be particularly important in CFS.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. stefan.kempke@ppw.kuleuven.be
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Kempke
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Luyten
authors: Stephan
authors: S
authors: Claes
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Van Wambeke
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Bekaert
authors: Lutgarde
authors: L
authors: Goossens
authors: Boudewijn
authors: B
authors: Van Houdenhove
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence