The primary purpose of the proposed research is to determine the role of natural social support systems in individual susceptibility to respiratory infection, and related symptomatic behavior. Alternative conceptual measures of social support and psychosocial stress will be used to predict the incidence and severity of colds for volunteers subsequently inoculated with viruses. We focus on distinguishing between two models of the support-illness relationship: the buffering model--social support reduces illness by protecting persons from the pathogenic effects of stressful events, and the main-effect model--support reduces illness irrespective of stress level. We also examine the roles of positive and negative affect, self-esteem, and personal control in mediating the relationship between social support and illness. By employing a prospective design in which healthy (unifected) subjects are exposed to cold or influenza viruses, we are able to focus on the onset of infection, eliminate the possibility that support results in selective exposure to the agent, and reduce the probability that illness or illness behavior could be responsible for shifts in social networks or perceptions of social support. Random assignment of volunteers to virus or placebo also allows us to determine the psychosocial predictors of symptomatic behavior holding infection constant. Primary outcomes include infection (virus shedding), physical symptoms (quantify of nasal secretion) and behavioral symptoms (symptom reporting, use of handkerchiefs).
