The Relationship Between Fatigue and Personality in a Student Population

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between fatigue or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)-like symptoms and basic dimensions of personality, a sample of 466 Kuwaiti college students took part in the study (M age = 19.0 years, SD = 2.1). Participants completed the Arabic Scale of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ASCFS; Abdel-Khalek & Al-Theeb, 2006) and the Arabic version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ; Abdel-Khalek & Eysenck, 1983; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). The ASCFS was found to be significantly and positively correlated with neuroticism and psychoticism and negatively correlated with extraversion. Two high-loading factors were extracted from both sexes and labeled “Fatigue and neuroticism versus extraversion”, and “Psychoticism versus lie”. A multiple stepwise regression was carried out and the predictors of ASCFS were found to be neuroticism and psychoticism (positive) and extraversion (negative) among men, while in women the predictors were neuroticism and psychoticism. It was concluded that high scores on neuroticism, psychoticism, and introversion may predispose people to CFS. Clinicians treating CFS could find this result useful. It is suggested that treating neurotic symptoms may ameliorate CFS symptoms.