Differential immune system changes with acute and persistent stress for optimists vs pessimists.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Differential immune system changes with acute and persistent stress for optimists vs pessimists.

Brain Behav Immun. 1999 Jun;13(2):155-74. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/99303529
Cohen F; Kearney KA; Zegans LS; Kemeny ME; Neuhaus JM; Stites DP; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San; Francisco, USA.

Abstract: This study investigated whether acute and persistent stressors and life change events were followed by changes in immune status, and whether dispositional optimism moderated these relationships. Thirty-nine healthy women ages 18-45 were followed prospectively for 3 months, with weekly assessment of acute and persistent stressors and monthly assessment of life events and immune parameters (NK cell cytotoxicity, and CD4 and CD8 T cell subsets). The study used an autoregressive linear model to examine how weekly appraised acute and persistent stress levels were associated with immune parameters in the subsequent week. Analyses revealed that the immune outcomes were differentially affected by acute and persistent stressors. Further, the association between acute stress and subsequent immune parameters was buffered by an optimistic perspective. However, when stress persisted at high levels, optimists showed more subsequent immune decrements than pessimists. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Keywords: CLINICAL TRIAL JOURNAL ARTICLE Acute Disease Adolescence Adult Chronic Disease CD4-CD8 Ratio Female Human Immune System/*PHYSIOLOGY Killer Cells, Natural/IMMUNOLOGY Life Change Events Linear Models Lymphocyte Count Middle Age Personality/*PHYSIOLOGY Personality Tests Prospective Studies Stress, Psychological/*IMMUNOLOGY/*PSYCHOLOGY Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
991030
A99A0948

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