Contracting COVID-19: lifestyle and social connections may play a role


Date:
July 9, 2020
Source:
Association for Psychological Science
Summary:
Current research indicates that unhealthy lifestyle choices,
including smoking and lack of exercise, along with emotional
stressors like social isolation and interpersonal conflicts
are important risk factors for developing upper respiratory
infections. It is possible these same factors also increase the
risk of contracting COVID-19.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Unhealthy lifestyle choices, like smoking and avoiding exercise, are
known risk factors for certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. A
growing body of research reveals that these risk factors and a lack of supportive social connections can also increase the risk of developing respiratory infections, like the common cold and influenza.


==========================================================================
A new article published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological
Science explores how lifestyle, social, and psychological factors also
may increase the risk of contracting COVID-19.

"We know little about why some of the people exposed to the coronavirus
that causes COVID-19 are more likely to develop the disease than
others," said Sheldon Cohen, a professor of psychology at Carnegie
Mellon University and one of the authors on the paper. "Our research on psychological factors that predict susceptibility to other respiratory
viruses may provide clues to help identify factors that matter for
COVID-19." Through a series of studies spanning more than 30 years,
Cohen and his team examined how lifestyle, social, and psychological
factors affect whether or not healthy adults exposed to respiratory
viruses become ill. This work focused on eight viral strains that cause
the common cold and two that cause influenza.

"In our work, we intentionally exposed people to cold and influenza
viruses and studied whether psychological and social factors predict how effective the immune system is in suppressing infection, or preventing
or mitigating the severity of illness," said Cohen. "We found a strong correlation between social and psychological stressors and increased susceptibility." Intriguingly, the researchers also found that social integration and social support offer a protective shield against
respiratory infection and illness.

Until now, the only tactics to slow the spread of coronavirus have
been behavioral changes that reduce the probability of being exposed
to the virus, such as stay-at-home measures and social-distancing
requirements. These same behaviors, however, are often associated
with interpersonal stressors, like loneliness, loss of employment,
and familial conflict. According to the researchers, these stressors
may be powerful predictors of how a person will respond if exposed to coronavirus because of the stressors' direct physiological effects on
immunity and their psychological factors, which are thought to have
their influence through the mind-body connection.

Cohen's work demonstrates that psychological and social stressors are associated with an overproduction of proinflammatory chemicals known as cytokines in response to cold and influenza viruses. In turn, this excess
of inflammation was associated with an increased risk of becoming ill.

Similarly, research on COVID-19 has shown that producing an excess
of proinflammatory cytokines is associated with more severe COVID-19 infections, suggesting that a stress-triggered excessive cytokine
response might also contribute to excessive inflammation and symptoms
in COVID-19 patients.

Cohen and his colleagues acknowledge that, as of now, there are no firmly established links between behavioral and psychological factors and the
risk for disease and death in persons exposed to the corona virus that
causes COVID-19.

However, their prior body of research may be relevant to the current
pandemic because, they note, the most potent predictors of disease, interpersonal and economic stressors, are the types of stressors that
are commonly experienced among those who are isolated or in quarantine.

"If you have a diverse social network (social integration), you tend to
take better care of yourself (no smoking, moderate drinking, more sleep
and exercise)," said Cohen. "Also if people perceive that those in their
social network will help them during a period of stress or adversity
(social support) then it attenuates the effect of the stressor and is
less impactful on their health."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Association_for_Psychological_Science. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sheldon Cohen. Psychosocial Vulnerabilities to Upper Respiratory
Infectious Illness: Implications for Susceptibility to Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Perspectives on Psychological Science,
2020; 174569162094251 DOI: 10.1177/1745691620942516 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200709113521.htm

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