Associations between stress, trait negative affect, acute immune reactivity, and antibody response to hepatitis B injection in healthy young adults

Eighty-four healthy graduate participants were administered the standard co urse of 3 hepatitis B vaccinations. Five months after the first dose (short ly after the second injection), each participant completed psychosocial mea sures, and a blood sample was drawn for determination of hepatitis B surfac e antibody titer. After completion of the vaccination series, participants performed an acute stress protocol, consisting of a 30-min adaptation perio d and a 5-min evaluative speech task. Blood was drawn at the end of the res ting and task periods for assessment of cellular immune measures. Lower ant ibody response, as assessed after the second hepatitis B injection, was pre dicted independently by (a) high trait negative affect and (b) diminished T -cell proliferation in response to PHA. These data provide evidence that tr ait negative affect and the magnitude of stress-induced suppression of immu ne function may have clinical significance.