The purpose of the present study was to determine if psychological stress, defined as academic examination stress, would systematically produce changes in immune parameters (immunoglobulin concentration) and psychological functioning. It was hypothesized that as examination stress occurred there would be an effect on immunological function consistent with heightened psychological activity/stress. Subjects were 23 master's and doctoral students in psychology who volunteered for the research project. All subjects were administered a series of psychological tests to measure stress, personality factors, emotional states, and anxiety levels. All tests were administered and.blood samples drawn over a period of 15 months across two lowstress and two high-stress periods. Immunological tests included white blood cell (WBC) differential count and radial immunodiffusion (RID) for the determination of concentration of different immunoglobulin classes (IgA, IgG, IgM) in serum. Data were treated to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, t /test for correlated samples correlational matrix between variables across assessments and discriminant function analysis. Results showed (1) increased immunoglobulin levels during periods of stress; (2) immunoglobulin G most consistently related to stress and probably most indicative of the stressed condition and biological resistance to stress; (3) anxiety related to external events; (4) increase in anxiety under stress; and (5) anxiety inversely correlated with emotional stability and coping skills while positively related to tension, increased number of somatic complaints, and obsessive-compulsive trends. Firm support was provided for the hypothesis that as stress occurred, there would be consistent changes in immunological functioning associated with heightened psychological activity/stress. It was concluded that a response pattern to stress was adaptive along both psychological- and immunological dimensions and that the concept of bodymind interaction was the most realistic approach to understanding the total response patterns.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc331278 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Didriksen, Nancy A. (Nancy Andrews) |
| Contributors | Butler, Joel R., Schafer, Rollie, Holloway, Harold D., Lawlis, G. Frank, Toledo, Jose Raphael |
| Publisher | North Texas State University |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | v, 78 leaves: ill., Text |
| Rights | Public, Didriksen, Nancy A. (Nancy Andrews), Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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