About the Authors

Linda Kwakkenbos

kwakkenbosL@gmail.com

Affiliations Department of Rheumatology, Sint Maartenskliniek Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Erin Arthurs

Affiliations Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Frank H. J. van den Hoogen

Affiliation Department of Rheumatology, Sint Maartenskliniek Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Marie Hudson

Affiliations Department of Medicine (Division of Rheumatology), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Wim G. J. M. van Lankveld

Affiliation Department of Rheumatology, Sint Maartenskliniek Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Murray Baron

Affiliations Department of Medicine (Division of Rheumatology), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Cornelia H. M. van den Ende

Affiliation Department of Rheumatology, Sint Maartenskliniek Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Brett D. Thombs

Affiliations Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Department of Medicine (Division of Rheumatology), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, School of Nursing, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada

for the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group

Members of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group can be found in the acknowledgments.

Competing Interests

Actelion Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Inc. have provided unrestricted educational and research funds to the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LK EA FH MH WL MB CE BDT. Performed the experiments: LK EA FH MH WL MB CE BDT. Analyzed the data: LK EA BDT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: FH MH WL MB CE. Wrote the paper: LK EA FH MH WL MB CE BDT.