Self-Quitting Myths Revisited: Responses to Schachter and to Forgays and Forgays

Replies to the comments of S. Schachter (see PA, Vols 13673 and 68:10809) and D. G. Forgays and D. K. Forgays (see record 1991-13653-001) concerning the article by S. Cohen et al (see record 1990-05833-001) on smoking cessation. Issues addressed include self-quitting vs clinic quitting, the populations examined, procedural and statistical details, and the message contained in the article by S. Cohen et al.</p

Providing convincing evidence for psychological influences on health constitutes a tremendous scientific challenge

Lazarus comments on the problems of providing "unequivocal" demonstrations of the effects of psychosocial factors on health. Because I find it difficult to demonstrate anything "unequivocally," I search for something a little less ambitious--convincing evidence.</p

Aftereffects of stress on human performance and social behavior: A review of research and theory.

A review of experimental and correlational studies suggests that the aftereffects of stress on performance are due to a wide range of unpredictable, uncontrollable stressors including noise, electric shock, and bureaucratic stress. These effects are not limited to stressful situations that involve a lack of predictability and controllability over a distracting stimulus; they can also be induced by increased task demand. Interventions that increase personal control and/or stressor predictability are effective in reducing poststressor effects. There is also evidence for poststimulation effects on social behavior which generally involve an insensitivity toward others following stressor exposure. Studies of exposure to environmental stressors in naturalistic settings report effects similar to those found in laboratory settings. Several theories (e.g., psychic cost, learned helplessness, arousal) are examined. Some receive more support than others, but it is concluded that the reliability and generality of poststimulation effects have many causes

Social Relationships and Health

The author discusses 3 variables that assess different aspects of social relationships-social support, social integration, and negative interaction. The author argues that all 3 are associated with health outcomes, that these variables each influence health through different mechanisms, and that associations between these variables and health are not spurious findings attributable to our personalities. This argument suggests a broader view of how to intervene in social networks to improve health. This includes facilitating both social integration and social support by creating and nurturing both close (strong) and peripheral (weak) ties within natural social networks and reducing opportunities for negative social interaction. Finally, the author emphasizes the necessity to understand more about who benefits most and least from social-connectedness interventions.</p

Role of Social Support in Smoking Cessation and Relapse

This research addresses the role social support plays in smoking cessation and the maintenance of smoking abstinence.</p

The Pittsburgh Common Cold Studies: Psychosocial predictors of susceptibility to respiratory infectious illness. [Keynote Presentation at the 8th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine; Mainz, Germany, August 25-28, 2004]

This article provides a selected overview of 20 years of research on the role of psychosocial factors in susceptibility to upper respiratory infections. We present evi- dence from our laboratory that psychological stress is associated with increased risk for developing respiratory illness for persons intentionally exposed to a common cold virus, that the longer the duration of the stressor the greater the risk, and that stress association with susceptibility may be mediated by stress-induced disruption of the regulation of proinflammatory cytokines. We further provide evidence that social re- lationships (social integration and social support) are also associated with risk for re- spiratory illness: Social integration is associated with reduced risk irrespective of stress level and social support protects persons from the pathogenic influences of stress. Finally, we report recent evidence that lower levels of early childhood socio- economic status (SES) are associated with greater risk of viral-induced illness during adulthood, independent of adult SES

Citation Index Classic: Social support, stress and health

In a literature review, we found that social support protects persons from the potentially pathogenic effects of stressors when support is defined as perceived availability of social resources. In contrast, social support is beneficial for health irrespective of stress levels when support is defined as integration in a social network.</p

Psychological Stress, Immunity, and Physical Disease

Dr. Cohen writes a first-person narrative about the inspiration and background of his immunology research

Sound Effects on Behavior

Department of Psycholog

Psychological Stress and Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Infections

The biologic plausibility of a link between psychological states and host resistance is discussed. Although there is substantial evidence for the association between psychological stress and both cellular and humoral immune response, these data do not necessarily suggest increased susceptibility to infectious agents among stressed persons. Epidemiologic and viral-challenge studies suggest that psychological stress is a risk factor for upper respiratory infections with the strongest evidence provided by recent well-controlled, prospective viral-challenge trials. However, there is still little direct evidence for the nature of neuroendocrine, immune, or behavioral pathways through which stress might alter susceptibility