title: Relationship of social support to stress responses and immune function in healthy and asthmatic adolescents.
abstract: Although most clinicians believe that social support has beneficial effects on health, the mechanisms mediating this relationship have not been clearly established. We examined the direct effect of social support on several immune measures and its role in moderating the response to academic exams in healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Three types of students--healthy, mild asthma, and severe asthma--completed social support and stress questionnaires and gave blood samples during the midsemester and final exam periods. Social support and natural killer cell (NK) function showed a significant reduction during exams in both healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Social support, however, did not have a direct effect on immune responses. Nevertheless, high social support appeared to attenuate the magnitude of exam-induced reduction in NK activity, suggesting a role for social support in protecting against immune decrements during times of stress.
authors.affiliation: The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Nursing, 35294-1210, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Coe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karaszewski
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires