Short communication Chronic fatigue syndrome in adolescents: Do parental expectations of their child's intellectual ability match the child's ability? Emma Godfrey a , Anthony Cleare b , Alice Coddington b , Amanda Roberts a , John Weinman a , Trudie Chalder b, ⁎ a Department of Psychology, Kings College London, London, UK b Department of Psychological Medicine, Kings College London, London, UK Received 28 March 2008; received in revised form 16 February 2009; accepted 17 February 2009 Abstract Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to measure the discrepancy between actual and perceived IQ in a sample of adolescents with CFS compared to healthy controls. We hypothe- sized that adolescents with CFS and their parent would have higher expectations of the adolescent's intellectual ability than healthy adolescents and their parent. Methods: The sample was 28 CFS patients and 29 healthy controls aged 11–19 years and the parent of each participant. IQ was assessed using the AH4 group test of general intelligence and a self-rating scale which measured perceived IQ. Results: Parents' perceptions of their children's IQ were significantly higher for individuals with CFS than healthy controls. Conclusions: High expectations may need to be addressed within the context of treatment. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Chronic fatigue syndrome; Expectations; IQ Introduction Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by prolonged physical and mental fatigue of at least 6 months' duration that severely affects functioning [1]. Prevalence has been estimated at between 2% in community studies [2,3] and 0.2% in a large epidemiological study [4], with an observed association between CFS and psychiatric disorders [5–7]. CFS patients frequently report concentration and memory problems [8] associated with a decline in intellectual abilities. Studies that have measured global intellectual functioning in adult patients with CFS have found no evidence of intellectual deterioration or a primary deficit in intellectual functioning [9,10]. Indeed, CFS patients' IQ scores fall within the normal range on both the Full Scale Verbal and Performance IQ tests compared with normative data on the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised [11]. In adolescents with chronic fatigue, a prospective study found an association between high IQ and persistence of fatigue [7]. Two cross-sectional studies have been conducted, one of which assessed a subsample of children with CFS between 7 and 17 years old. Seventeen percent of the total sample (n=17) had IQs above 120; 47% had an IQ between 100 and 120, and 35% had an IQ between 80 and 100 [12]. In the other study, chronic fatigued adolescents had an average range of intellectual functioning and did not differ from healthy controls [13]. From clinical observations of children with CFS, we observe that they have high expectations of themselves. In keeping with this observation, Fry and Martin [14] found that both adolescents with CFS and their parents underestimated their current activity levels and had higher expectations of their post-CFS activity levels than was realistic for children of that age. It is possible therefore that this high expectation may extend to academic endeavors. The aim of this study was to investigate actual IQ and perception of IQ in CFS adolescents and compare them to healthy controls. We hypothesized that adolescents with CFS and their parents would have higher expectations of the adolescent's intellec- tual ability than healthy adolescents and their parents. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 67 (2009) 165 – 168 ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. E-mail address: sphatrc@iop.kcl.ac.uk (T. Chalder). 0022-3999/09/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.02.004