Psychosocial Moderators of Immune Function

This paper reviews evidence linking both major and minor stressful events to changes in immune function in humans. We suggest that declines in immune function are a very frequent concomitant of the heightened distress associated with even commonplace stressful events like academic examinations. Moreover, chronic stress does not appear to lead to adaptation to the level of well-matched comparison subjects. These data are consistent with epidemiological studies that have found greater morbidity and mortality in certain distressed populations.