MODULATORY EFFECTS OF DEFENSE AND COPING ON STRESS-INDUCED CHANGES INENDOCRINE AND IMMUNE PARAMETERS

We examined whether habitual defense and coping affect the response of hormones (ACTH, cortisol, prolactin, endorphins, and noradrenaline) a nd immune parameters (numbers of T cells, B cells, natural killer [NK] cells, and proliferative responses to mitogens or antigens) to an acu te laboratory stressor (i.e., solving a 3-dimensional puzzle and expla ining it to a confederate) in 86 male high school teachers. Defense an d coping were assessed by Kragh's tachistoscopic Defense Mechanism Tes t (a measure of perceptual defense) and by 4 questionnaire-based copin g styles assessing instrumental mastery-oriented coping, emotion-focus ed coping, cognitive defense, and defensive hostility. The laboratory stressor per se caused a relative increase in immunological (in partic ular NK cells) and endocrine (cortisol, prolactin) parameters. Defense and coping, however, significantly codetermined the response to the s tressor. In particular, instrumental mastery-oriented coping and perce ptual defense were related to stress-induced changes in numbers of B c ells and in the pituitary-adrenal hormones. The results indicate that the impact of a mild psychological stressor on the immune and endocrin e system depends to a considerable extent on the specific ways people deal with stressors.