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Biomedical subjects

Suzanne C Segerstrom

Publications and source records attributed to Suzanne C Segerstrom.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

When Goals Conflict But People Prosper: The Case of Dispositional Optimism.

Optimistic persistence in pursuing goals may have beneficial consequences such as protection against negative affect and greater likelihood of goal attainment, but persistence can also result in greater likelihood of goal conflict, which can have negative consequences. Two studies, one cross-sectional (N = 100) and one longitudinal (N = 77), found that optimism associated with higher goal conflict. However, objectively rated goal conflict did not significantly undermine adjustment, and when balance among goal value, expectancy, and conflict was considered, optimism associated with better balance. In turn, balance accounted for part of optimists' better goal progress over the course of a semester. Although goal conflict may have costs, these costs appear to be offset by accompanying benefits, particularly for optimists.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways.

Studies have linked optimism to poorer immunity during difficult stressors. In this study, when 1st-year law students (N = 46) relocated to attend law school, reducing conflict among curricular and extracurricular goals, optimism predicted larger delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, indicating more robust in vivo cellular immunity. However, when students did not relocate, increasing goal conflict, optimism predicted smaller responses. Although this effect has been attributed to negative affect when difficult stressors violate optimistic expectancies, distress did not mediate optimism's effects on immunity. Alternative affective mediators related to engagement--engaged affect and fatigue--likewise failed to mediate optimism's effects, although all 3 types of affect independently influenced in vivo immunity. Alternative pathways include effort or self-regulatory depletion.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Dispositional optimism and coping: a meta-analytic review.

The relation between dispositional optimism and better adjustment to diverse stressors may be attributable to optimism's effects on coping strategies. A meta-analytic review (K = 50, N = 11,629) examined the impact of dispositional optimism on coping. Dispositional optimism was found to be positively associated with approach coping strategies aiming to eliminate, reduce, or manage stressors or emotions (r = .17), and negatively associated with avoidance coping strategies seeking to ignore, avoid, or withdraw from stressors or emotions (r = -.21). Effect sizes were larger for the distinction between approach and avoidance coping strategies than for that between problem and emotion-focused coping. Meta-analytic findings also indicate that optimists may adjust their coping strategies to meet the demands of the stressors at hand, and that the optimism-coping relationship is strongest in English-speaking samples.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Identifying immune traits and biobehavioral correlates: generalizability and reliability of immune responses in rhesus macaques.

Variation in immune responses over time and in different contexts presents a methodological challenge for characterizing the typical immune status of an individual. Our analyses statistically evaluated sampling strategies for optimizing the determination of an "immune trait" in studies of individual differences with nonhuman primates. Lymphocyte proliferation and natural killer cell activity were assessed on multiple occasions at 3-week intervals in male rhesus macaques for up to 1 year while they lived in undisturbed conditions. Generalizability and Monte Carlo analyses were utilized to explore the benefits of multiple evaluations and the effects of reliability on replication. There were substantial gains in reliability and stability by obtaining 4 or more immune assessments of the same individual, and the benefits continued to accrue to an optimal assessment level of 10 or more evaluations for each individual. The value of determining "immune traits" was then exemplified by demonstrating the degree to which the monkeys' handedness correlated with reliable indices of proliferative and cytolytic responses averaged over 1 year of assessment.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Optimism and immunity: do positive thoughts always lead to positive effects?

The effects of dispositional optimism, as defined by generalized positive expectations for the future, on physical health are mixed, especially in diseases that can be immunologically mediated such as HIV and cancer. Both experimental and naturalistic studies show that optimism is negatively related to measures of cellular immunity when stressors are difficult (e.g., complex, persistent, and uncontrollable) but positively related when stressors are easy (e.g., straightforward, brief, and controllable). Although the negative relationship between optimism and immunity has been attributed to the violation of optimists' positive expectancies and subsequent disappointment, empirical evidence suggests that it is more likely to be a consequence of optimists' greater engagement during difficult stressors. For example, negative mood does not account for the effect, but conscientiousness, a personality facet related to engagement, does. The mixed immunological correlates of optimism may explain why it does not consistently predict better disease outcomes.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Engagement and arousal: optimism's effects during a brief stressor.

Optimism is usually associated with better psychological and physiological adjustment to stressors, but some contradictory findings exist. The purpose of this study was to investigate how optimism could result in negative immunological changes following difficult stressors. Because optimists are likely to see positive outcomes as attainable, they may invest greater effort to achieve their goals. It is proposed that such engagement would be more physiologically demanding when pursuing difficult goals. Participants (N = 54) worked on 11 difficult or insoluble anagrams. Optimism when combined with high self-awareness increased time spent working on the anagrams and skin conductance and salivary cortisol during the recovery period. The results support the notion that the increased engagement that arises from optimism may lead to short-term physiological costs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Effect of stimulus type and worry on physiological response to fear.

The current study investigated whether the immediacy and concreteness of fear stimuli play an important role in the effects of trait worry on physiological response to fear. One hundred and eight participants were exposed to one of three fear-provoking stimuli: an actual spider (immediate and concrete), an opaque box which they were told contained a spider (immediate but abstract), or a recorded script (distant and abstract). Participants were yoked by levels of worry and gender. Heart rate, vagal tone, and skin conductance were recorded. The combination of high worry and an actual spider caused the largest decrease in vagal tone, but both the actual spider and opaque box increased skin conductance regardless of worry level. The results suggest that factors, such as the type of fear stimulus and the type of physiological measures used, are vital in understanding the reasons for and the limits of fear activation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry.

The present report meta-analyzes more than 300 empirical articles describing a relationship between psychological stress and parameters of the immune system in human participants. Acute stressors (lasting minutes) were associated with potentially adaptive upregulation of some parameters of natural immunity and downregulation of some functions of specific immunity. Brief naturalistic stressors (such as exams) tended to suppress cellular immunity while preserving humoral immunity. Chronic stressors were associated with suppression of both cellular and humoral measures. Effects of event sequences varied according to the kind of event (trauma vs. loss). Subjective reports of stress generally did not associate with immune change. In some cases, physical vulnerability as a function of age or disease also increased vulnerability to immune change during stressors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Individual differences, immunity, and cancer: lessons from personality psychology.

Individual differences have an important role in modulating the relationship between environmental events such as stressors and the immune system, and stable individual differences such as personality may have an important influence not only on immunity but on the progression of chronic health problems such as cancer. However, the relationships among personality, the immune system, and health-especially cancer-are controversial. Looking back to another controversy may help inform future research in this area: In the 1960s, Walter Mischel questioned whether stable personality traits existed. Responses to this challenge included research designs that improved reliability and accounted for both person and situation in an interactionist model. Both responses are relevant to current research in personality, immunity, and health.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

A multidimensional structure for repetitive thought: what's on your mind, and how, and how much?

Although repetitive thought (RT) styles such as worry, rumination, and processing correlate positively, they have divergent effects on well-being, suggesting important dimensional variation. In Study 1, multidimensional scaling identified 2 dimensions--positive versus negative content valence and searching versus solving purpose--among students (N=978) who completed standard RT measures. In Study 2, students (N=100) sorted 25 descriptions of RT. Multidimensional scaling identified 4 dimensions, including valence and purpose. Content valence associated with valenced affect; solving associated with less aroused affect and less polarized appraisals of thought topics. In Study 3, valence and purpose of RT descriptions by women in a breast cancer prevention trial (N=62) predicted concurrent affect and psychological and physical well-being.

Adaptation, Psychological↗