C W Stout | PubMed Health

PubMed1986

Genital herpes and personality.

Genital herpes, while having gained considerable attention as an important psychosexual disease, is not well understood. Precisely what factors trigger infectious reactivation is an important question that has yet to be answered. The present study investigated the relationship between recurrent genital herpes and personality. High and low recurrers were administered a demographic and disease history questionnaire and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Results revealed that, compared to low recurrers, the mean MMPI profile of high recurrers showed significantly greater elevations on nine of ten scales. The degree and pattern of elevation in the high profile is consistent with increased levels of autonomic arousal and stress. These findings are interpreted as suggestive of the possible role of personality in influencing the rate of infectious recurrence in genital herpes sufferers. The implications for psychologically based treatment strategies are discussed.

Arousal↗

PubMed1982

Type A behavior and upper respiratory infections.

The present study investigates the relationship between upper respiratory infection (URI) and Type A behavior pattern. Type A and Type B college students completed a health survey which measured both incidence of and response to URI's. Overall, results revealed a pattern indicating that Type A's reported experiencing significantly more URI's than did their Type B counterparts, and that female Type A's reported significantly more frequent URI's than did female type B's. The results were discussed in terms of the Type A's stressful life style increasing his/her susceptibility to viral respiratory disease. The Type A's propensity to minimize or failure to attend to illness symptoms was also discussed.

Adult↗