Loneliness, Social Network Size, and Immune Response to Influenza Vaccination in College Freshmen.

Abstract

Antibody response to the influenza immunization was investigated in 83 1st-semester healthy university freshmen. Elevated levels of loneliness throughout the semester and small social networks were independently associated with poorer antibody response to 1 component of the vaccine. Those with both high levels of loneliness and a small social network had the lowest antibody response. Loneliness was also associated with greater psychological stress and negative affect, less positive affect, poorer sleep efficiency and quality, and elevations in circulating levels of cortisol. However, only the stress data were consistent with mediation of the loneliness-antibody response relation. None of these variables were associated with social network size, and hence none were potential mediators of the relation between network size and immunization response.

Bereavement and marriage are associated with antibody response to influenza vaccination in the elderly

“…Previous vaccination studies reporting that either low social support or social isolation was associated with poorer vaccination response, were conducted with student samples (Glaser et al, 1992;Phillips et al, 2005;Pressman et al, 2005). The only study in an elderly sample to examine social support in this context reported a negative association: the better the support the lower the absolute antibody titer (Moynihan et al, 2004).…”

“…A regression strategy of this sort using the logged titer data controlling for baseline has been used in a number of recent influenza vaccination studies (Miller et al, 2004;Phillips et al, 2005a;Phillips, Carroll, Burns & Drayson, 2005b;Pressman et al, 2005). Any variations in degrees of freedom reflect occasional missing data.…”

Stress, ageing and their influence on functional, cellular and molecular aspects of the immune system

“…A large number of studies have emphasised the behavioural changes that accompany chronic stress situations (such as alcohol consumption (Nguyen et al 2012;Silva and Madeira 2012), smoking (Lee et al 2007), nutrition (Thompson et al 2013) and sleep disturbances) that are already known to have direct and serious health consequences and could mediate the negative effect of stress on health indirectly (Dallman et al 2003;Hussain 2010). Other indirect effects might be via changes in social roles and social support associated with stress at the same time affecting health and quality of life (Baron et al 1990;Pressman et al 2005;Rutledge et al 2004;Segerstrom and Miller 2004). However, many direct effects on immunity have also been demonstrated.…”

Loneliness and Social Isolation: Risk Factors Long Overdue for Surveillance

“…• Diminished physical activity 13 • Diminished motor function 14,15 • Symptoms of depression 16 • Disrupted sleep and daytime dysfunction 17 • Impaired mental and cognitive function 18 • Increased systolic blood pressure 19 • Increased sympathetic tone and vascular resistance 20,21 • Increased hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical activity 22,23 • Altered gene expression related to anti-inflammatory responses 24 • Altered immunity 25,26 Of greater concern, however, is an accumulating volume of research that highlights loneliness as a risk factor for both functional decline as well as increased mortality. 4,8,[27][28][29] In short, there is evidence that the subjective experience of loneliness can significantly contribute to premature death independently of other physical, behavioral, or psychological factors.…”