In this study we expand upon and further test findings from our previous research with females which showed that acute and chronic stressors had different immunological associations, and that optimism moderated the relationship between stressors and immunity. The objectives of this study are to: 1) determine if there are gender differences in reports of stressors and negative moods, in the relationships between psychological variables and immunity, and in the role optimism plays as a moderator; 2) further investigate the relationship of chronic stressors and immunity by studying not only subjects exposed to the normal stressors of everyday life but also by including a sample of subjects undergoing a known chronic stressor (i.e., unemployment); and 3) determine how optimism moderates the relationship between stressors and immunity by examining coping strategies of optimists and pessimists. Two samples will be studied: 50 males (sample A), and 75 males and 75 females who have lost their job and are unemployed (sample B). All subjects will be assessed weekly for four months on acute an chronic stressors, mood, and health status, and assessed monthly on life events and coping. Optimism will be measured. Monthly blood samples will be assayed for natural killer cell cytotoxicity and for percentages of the following lymphocyte subsets: CD4 helper-inducer T cells, CD8 suppressor-cytotoxic T cells, suppressor T cells (CD8+CD11b-), cytotoxic T cells (CD8+CD11b-), and NK cells (CD16). Within subjects analyses will examine how changes in acute, chronic, and intermittent stress states are associated with subsequent alterations in immune status, and whether optimism moderates the relationship between stressors and immunity. This study's prospective, longitudinal design, its examination of gender differences, and its comprehensive analysis of acute and chronic stressors will help fill important gaps in our understanding of the impact of psychosocial factors on immunity.
| Cohen, Frances; Kemeny, Margaret E; Zegans, Leonard S et al. (2007) Immune function declines with unemployment and recovers after stressor termination. Psychosom Med 69:225-34 |
