Effects of Acute Stress or Centrally Injected Interleukin-1beta on Neuropeptide Expression in the Immune System

Acute stress stimulates the expression and release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) from the hypothalamus, and the pro-opiomelanocortin products beta-endorphin and ACTH from the anterior pituitary. These neuropeptides are also expressed in immune tissues, and it has been proposed that they may modulate immune responses to stress through paracrine mechanisms. We subjected rats to restraint stress or central injection of interleukin (IL)-1beta to determine whether these acute stimuli can alter the expression of neuropeptides in the spleen and thymus. Restraint stress significantly increased the contents of all these neuropeptides in thymic, but not splenic, extracts. A single icv injection of IL-1beta increased contents of CRH, AVP, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleens of both sham-operated and adrenalectomised (ADX) rats. IL-1beta increased thymic contents of CRH and ACTH in sham-operated rats but these increases were not observed in ADX rats. These results suggest that the effects of IL-1beta on neuropeptide expression in the spleen are independent of glucocorticoids, whereas IL-1beta stimulation of neuropeptide expression in the thymus is dependent on circulating glucocorticoids. There were significant correlations between increases in CRH, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleen, and between CRH and ACTH in the thymus, consistent with the suggestion that IL-1beta-induced increases in ACTH and beta-endorphin may be mediated through CRH. These results provide evidence that stressors can directly influence neuropeptide expression in immune tissues. Thus stress may influence immune functions through paracrine mechanisms involving locally synthesised neuropeptides as well as through activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis.     

The relationship between interpersonal perception and post-traumatic stress disorder-related functional impairment: a social relations model analysis

This study used Kenny's social relations model to examine the relationship between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-related impairment and interpersonal perceptions. Participants were 124 students who had previously completed the Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale as part of a larger study. After engaging in brief dyadic conversations with 3 other students, participants recorded perceptions of personality traits for themselves, their interaction partners and how they believed their partners saw them (metaperceptions). Results indicated that those with more severe post-traumatic stress disorder-related impairment saw themselves negatively and believed their interaction partners also viewed them negatively. However, these individuals were not seen differently by others, except that they were rated as less dependable. Our findings suggest that post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with negative beliefs about the self that may influence self-esteem and interpersonal relationships.     

Coping styles and personality: a biometric analysis

Previous research suggests that coping styles are modestly heritable and that this genetic influence is shared in large part with genetic influences on personality. To test this hypothesis, we estimated the heritable basis of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations in a sample of 91 monozygotic and 80 dizygotic twin pairs. Task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and social diversion coping styles were modestly heritable (h(2)=.17 to .20), whereas the use of distraction appeared to be influenced solely by environmental factors. Multivariate analyses showed that genetic contributions to coping styles were, at best, only modestly related to genetic contributions to personality (r=-.03 to .35). Environmental contributions to personality were unrelated to environmental factors in coping style. These results suggest that coping style is not merely a manifestation of basic personality traits but does support the possibility that the genetic factors in personality influences have a modest influence on an individual's preferred coping style or strength (e.g., rigidity vs flexibility).     

Relationship of resilience to personality, coping, and psychiatric symptoms in young adults

Developing a comprehensive understanding of resilience across the lifespan is potentially important for mental health promotion, yet resilience has been vastly understudied compared to disease and vulnerability. The present study investigated the relationship of resilience to personality traits, coping styles, and psychiatric symptoms in a sample of college students. Measures included the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, NEO Five Factor Inventory, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, and Brief Symptom Inventory. Results supported hypotheses regarding the relationship of resilience to personality dimensions and coping styles. Resilience was negatively associated with neuroticism, and positively related to extraversion and conscientiousness. Coping styles also predicted variance in resilience above and beyond the contributions of these personality traits. Task-oriented coping was positively related to resilience, and mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and resilience. Emotion-oriented coping was associated with low resilience. Finally, resilience was shown to moderate the relationship between a form of childhood maltreatment (emotional neglect) and current psychiatric symptoms. These results augment the literature that seeks to better define resilience and provide evidence for the construct validity of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale.     

Pregnancy decision making: predictors of early stress and adjustment

Pregnancy decision making was examined among pregnant and non-pregnant women seeking pregnancy testing. The majority of women had decided upon and were certain of a decision to either abort or carry a possible pregnancy before learning the pregnancy-test results. Adjustment to pregnancy decision making was examined longitudinally among the women who tested positive for pregnancy. Pregnant participants were interviewed about their decisions to carry or abort their pregnancies at three times–immediately prior to pregnancy testing, a day after receiving positive test results, and 4 weeks later. Nearly all maintained their original decision over the course of the study. Adjustment was related primarily to which outcome was chosen and, to a lesser degree, to whether a woman was initially decided or not upon the outcome. The time surrounding pregnancy testing was stressful for women who decided to abort their pregnancies. However, negative feelings at the time of pregnancy testing among those who later aborted their pregnancies subsided by the end of the study and did not differ from those who carried their pregnancies.     

Adolescent Heterosexual Males Talk About the Role of Male Peer Groups in Their Sexual Decision-Making

This research draws on in-depth, one-on-one interviews with a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 17 adolescent males, both virgins and non-virgins, to explore how they use talk to construct their sexual selves and present themselves as sexual decision-makers. The emphasis here is how some of the boys (n = 8) drew upon a particular discourse in their self-productions and implicated male peer groups in that production. I introduce the concept of the male fraternity and show how its particular qualities mediate boys’ sense of masculinity and belonging, as well as their understanding of females as sex partners. Attention is also paid to how the group context generates social control features that limit individual resistance to collective understandings about gender and sexuality. The findings require corroboration but suggest important ways in which adolescent talk and male peer groups are implicated in the production of male sexuality and the denial of female subjectivity.