Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University.
Perspect Psychol Sci. 2021 Jan;16(1):161-174. doi: 10.1177/1745691620942516. Epub 2020 Jul 8.
For 35 years, our laboratory has been involved in identifying psychosocial factors that predict who becomes ill when they are exposed to a virus affecting the upper respiratory tract. To pursue this question, we used a unique viral-challenge design in which we assessed behavioral, social, and psychological factors in healthy adults. We subsequently exposed these adults to a cold or influenza virus and then monitored them in quarantine for 5 to 6 days for onset of respiratory illness. Factors we found to be associated with greater risk of respiratory illnesses after virus exposure included smoking, ingesting an inadequate level of vitamin C, and chronic psychological stress. Those associated with decreased risk included social integration, social support, physical activity, adequate and efficient sleep, and moderate alcohol intake. We cautiously suggest that our findings could have implications for identifying who becomes ill when exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This argument is based on evidence that the associations we report are replicable across multiple respiratory viruses and that the pathways found to link psychosocial factors to colds and influenza may play similar roles in COVID-19.
三十五年来，我们的实验室一直致力于确定在接触影响上呼吸道的病毒时，哪些心理社会因素可预测谁会患病。为了探究这个问题，我们采用了一种独特的病毒挑战设计，评估了健康成年人的行为、社会和心理因素。随后，我们让这些成年人接触感冒或流感病毒，然后在隔离中监测他们 5 到 6 天，以观察呼吸道疾病的发病情况。我们发现，与病毒暴露后呼吸道疾病风险增加相关的因素包括吸烟、摄入维生素 C 不足、慢性心理压力。与风险降低相关的因素包括社会融合、社会支持、身体活动、充足和高效的睡眠以及适度饮酒。我们谨慎地认为，我们的发现可能对识别接触严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2），即导致 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的病毒时谁会患病有启示作用。这一论点基于以下证据：我们报告的关联在多种呼吸道病毒中具有可重复性，并且发现将心理社会因素与感冒和流感联系起来的途径可能在 COVID-19 中发挥类似作用。
