The relationship between subjective ratings of sleep and mental functioning in healthy subjects and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

The present study examined the relationships between subjective reports of sleep and mental functioning. This was done both for healthy subjects and chronic fatigue syndrome patients, a group who frequently report sleep disorders. Sleep abnormalities were found to be related to personality and to state measures of physical and mental health. Distractability, as measured by the Stroop task, was also related to sleep disorder. The psychomotor slowing observed in the chronic fatigue syndrome patients was not modified by sleep status. However, the problems of memory and sustained attention found in the patients were restricted to those subgroups with sleep disorders.