Explanatory style and cell-mediated immunity in elderly men and women.
Correlated pessimistic explanatory style--the belief that negative events are caused by internal, stable, and global factors--with lowered immunocompetence in a sample of 26 older adults. Two measures of cell-mediated immunity--T-helper cell/T-suppressor cell ratio and T-lymphocyte response to mitogen challenge--were lower in individuals with a pessimistic style, controlling for the influence of current health, depression, medication, recent weight change, sleep, and alcohol use. A relative increase in the percentage of T-suppressor cells seemed to underlie this immunosuppression. Although the mechanism by which explanatory style might influence immune function remains unknown, we speculate that a pessimistic style might be an important psychological risk factor--at least among older people--in the early course of certain immune-mediated diseases.
Kamen-Siegel
L
L
University of Pennsylvania.
Rodin
J
J
Seligman
M E
ME
Dwyer
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology*; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment