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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder characterized by widespread pain. This study focuses on patients’ attributions of illness and of symptom onset.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 56 women to elicit patients’ views on what triggered their FM. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using a classical indexing technique to identify key themes. Content analysis was performed by two independent coders.

Primary causal attributions fell into five categories: psychological problems (28 respondents); somatic concerns (N=12); violence/abuse during childhood (N=7), gynaecological/obstetrical problems (N=6), and fatigue (N=3). Patients’ attributions were internal and external in the same proportions, more frequently unstable than stable, and more often described uncontrollable than controllable. Participants expressed decrements in self …