TYPES OF STRESSORS THAT INCREASE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO THE COMMON COLD INHEALTHY-ADULTS

Two-hundred seventy-six volunteers completed a life stressor interview and psychological questionnaires and provided blood and urine samples . They were then inoculated with common cold viruses and monitored for the onset of disease. Although seven acute stressful life events (les s than 1 month long) were not associated with developing colds, severe chronic stressors (1 month or longer) were associated with a substant ial increase in risk of disease. This relation was attributable primar ily to under- or unemployment and to enduring interpersonal difficulti es with family or friends. The association between chronic stressors a nd susceptibility to colds could not be fully explained by differences among stressed and nonstressed persons in social network characterist ics, personality, health practices, or prechallenge endocrine or immun e measures.