The role of neuroticism, perfectionism and depression in chronic fatigue syndrome. A structural equation modeling approach

Objective Previous studies have reported consistent associations between Neuroticism, maladaptive perfectionism and depression with severity of fatigue in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Depression has been considered a mediator factor between maladaptive perfectionism and fatigue severity, but no studies have explored the role of neuroticism in a comparable theoretical framework. This study aims to examine for the first time, the role of neuroticism, maladaptive perfectionism and depression on the severity of CFS, analyzing several explanation models. Methods A sample of 229 CFS patients were studied comparing four structural equation models, testing the role of mediation effect of depression severity in the association of Neuroticism and/or Maladaptive perfectionism on fatigue severity. Results The model considering depression severity as mediator factor between Neuroticism and fatigue severity is the only one of the explored models where all the structural modeling indexes have fitted satisfactorily (Chi square = 27.01, p = 0.079; RMSE = 0.047, CFI = 0.994; SRMR = 0.033). Neuroticism is associated with CFS by the mediation effect of depression severity. This personality variable constitutes a more consistent factor than maladaptive perfectionism in the conceptualization of CFS severity.