Suzanne C. Segerstrom|Lindsey J. Schipper|Richard N. Greenberg
Caregiving, repetitive thought, and immune response to vaccination in older adults
University of Kentucky
chronic stressors caregiving associated reduced antibody production vaccination elevated interleukin il6 older adults however individual differences repetitive thought frequent prolonged thought oneself ones world modify perception effects stress example worry stressful circumstances associated poorer immune outcomes whereas cognitive processing associated better outcomes present study tested relationship caregiving two types repetitive thought negative eg worry neutral eg reflection pre postinfluenza vaccine antibody il6 dementia caregivers n14 controls n30 interviewed blood drawn pre postvaccine multiwave study multilevel models found caregivers higher il6 controls vaccination t23236 p05 several interactions caregiver status repetitive thought predicting depression immune responses vaccination among caregivers negative repetitive thought predicted depression lower antibody titers whereas neutral repetitive thought predicted less depression higher antibody titers also higher postvaccination il6 among controls negative repetitive thought predicted depression higher antibody titers whereas neutral repetitive thought predicted less depression lower postvaccination il6 mediational tests depression account effects repetitive thought results generally support beneficial effects neutral repetitive thought detrimental effects negative repetitive thought effects may reduced even reversed depending life circumstances