Abstract
This investigation tested a three-path model of mood as a mediator of the relation between stress and immunity. Seventy-two married men completed end-of-day diaries in which they rated their mood for that day and the desirability of the day’ events for 12 weeks. Events were coded as either desirable (nonstressful) or undesirable (stressful) in nature. Immunological functioning was assessed by secretory immunoglobulin-A (sIgA) antibody response to an oral antigen. Regression analyses indicated that negative mood partially mediated the immunological response to both undesirable and desirable events. Undesirable events lowered antibody levels primarily by increasing negative mood; desirable events increased antibody levels by decreasing negative mood. Evidence for mediation by positive mood beyond that found for negative mood was weak.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 51, 1173–1182.
Blalock, J. E. (1989). A molecular hasis for bidirectional communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems. Physiological Reviews. 69. 1–32.
Brandtzaeg, P., Fjellenger, I., & Gjeroldsen, S. (1979). Human secretory immunoglobulins. I. Salivary secretions from individuals with normal or low levels of serum immunoglobulins. Scandinavian Journal of Haematolngy. 12. 4–83.
Breder, C. D., Dinarello, C. A., & Saber, C. B. (1988). Interleukin-1 immunoreactive innervation of the human hypothalamus. Science, 240, 321–324.
Camara, E. G., & Danao, T. C. (1989). The brain and immune system: A psychosomatic network. Psychosomatics, 30, 140–146.
Cohen, S., Kessler, R. C. & Gordon, L. U. (1995). Measuring stress; A guide for health and social scientists. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. M. (1991). Stress and infectious disease in humans. Psychological Bulletin. 109, 5–24.
Cox, D. S., Furman, S., & Paikoff, E. (1983), Inhibition of gastrically induced salivary IgA antibody by simultaneous gastric intubation of a second antigen to immune rats. Federation Proceedings, 42, 702.
Evans, P., & Edgerton, N. (1991). Life events and mood as predictors of the common cold. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 64, 35–44.
Evans, P., Pitts, M., & Smith, K. (1988). Minor infection, minor life events and the four day desitability dip. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 32, 533–539.
Jaccard, J. J., & Wan, C. K. (1993). Statistical analysis of temporal data with many observations: Issues for behavioral medicine data. Annals of’Behavioral Medicine, 15, 41–50.
Judd, C. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1981). Process analysis: Estimating mediation in treatment evaluations. Evaluation Review, 5, 602–619.
Knapp, P. H., Levy, E. M., Giorgi, R. G., Black, P. H., Fox, B. H., & Heeren, T. C. (1992). Short-term immunological effects of induced emotion. Psychosomatic Medicine. 54, 133–148.
Mancini, G., Carbonara, A. O., & Heremans, J. F. (1965). Immunochemical quantification of antigens by single immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry, 2. 235–254.
Mims, A. (1986). Interactions of viruses with the immune system. Clinical and Experimental immunology. 66, 1–16.
Morley, J. E., Kay, N. E., Solomon, G. R., & Plotnikoff, N. P. (1987). Neuropeptides: Conductors of the immune orchestra. Life Sciences. 41. 527–544.
Moynihan, J. A., & Cohen, N. (1992). Stress and immunity. In N. Schneidermann, P. McCabc, & A. Baum (Eds.), Perspectives in behavioral medicine: Stress and disease process (pp. 27–55). Hillsdale. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
O’Leary, A. (1990). Stress, emotion, and human immune function. Psychological Bulletin, 3, 363–382,
SAS Institute. Inc. (1992). SAS Technical Report P-229 Release 6.07). Cary. NC: Author.
Schneidermann, L., & Baum, A. (1992). Acute and chronic stress and the immune system. In N. Schneidermann, P. McCabe, & A. Baum (Eds.), Perspectives in behavioral medicine: Stress and disease process (pp. 1–26). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Smedley, H., Katrak, M., Sikora, K., & Wheeler, T. (1983). Neurological effects of recombinant human interferon. British Medical Journal, 286, 262–264.
Stone, A. A. (1992). Selected methodological concepts: Mediation and moderation, individual differences, aggregation strategies, and variability of replicates. In N. Schneiderman, P. McCabe, & A. Baum (Eds.), Perspectives in behavioral medicine: Stress and disease processes (pp. 55–72). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Stone, A. A. (1995). Measurement of affective response. In S. Cohen, R. C. Kessler, & L. Underwood Gordon (Eds.), Measuring stress: A guide for health and:social scientists (pp. 148–171), New York: Oxford University Press.
Stone, A. A., Cox, D. S., Valdimarsdottir, H., Jandorf, L., & Neale, J. M. (1987), Evidence that secretory IgA antibody is associated with daily mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52. 988–993.
Stone, A. A., Cox, D. S., Valdimarsdottir, H., & Neale, J. M. (1987). Secretory IgA as a measure of immunocompelence, Journal of Human Stress. 13, 136–140.
Stone, A. A., & Neale, J. M. (1982). Development of a methodology for assessing daily experiences. In A. Baum & J. Singer (Eds.), Advances in environmental psychology: Environment and health (Vol. 4, pp. 49–83). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Inc.
Stone, A. A., Neale, J. M., Cox, D. S., Napoli, A., Valdimarsdottir, K., & Kennedy-Moore, E. (1994). Daily events are associated with a secretory immune response to an oral antigen in humans. Health Psychology, 13, 440–446.
Stone, A. A., & Porter, L. S. (1995). Psychological coping: Its importance for treating medical problems. Mind-Body Medicine. 1. 46–54.
Stone, A. A., Reed, B. R., & Neale, J. M. (1987). Changes in daily event frequency precede episodes of physical symptoms. Journal of Human Stress. 13, 70–74.
Stone, A, A., Schwartz, J. E., Valdimarsdottir, H., Napoli, A., Neale, J. M., &. Cox, D, S. (1991). An alternative statistical treatment for summarizing the central tendency of replicate assay data. Journal of Immunological Methods, 136, 111–117.
Stone, A. A., & Shiffman, S. (1994). Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in behavioral medicine. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 16, 199–202.
Valdimarsdottir, H. B., & Bovbjerg, D. H. (1994). Positive mood buffers the effects of negative mood on natural killer cell activity. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Watson, D., Clark, L., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of a brief measure of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
West, S. G., & Hepworth, J. T. (1991). Statistical issues in the study of temporal data: Daily experiences. Journal of Personality. 59, 609–662.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by National Institute of Health Grant MH39234.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stone, A.A., Marco, C.A., Cruise, C.E. et al. Are stress-induced immunological changes mediated by mood? A closer look at how both desirable and undesirable daily events influence siga antibody. Int. J. Behav. Med. 3, 1–13 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0301_1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0301_1