Back to Search
Start Over
Grief Symptoms Promote Inflammation During Acute Stress Among Bereaved Spouses.
- Source :
-
Psychological Science (0956-7976) . Jun2022, Vol. 33 Issue 6, p859-873. 15p. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- The death of a spouse is associated with maladaptive immune alterations; grief severity may exacerbate this link. We investigated whether high grief symptoms were associated with an amplified inflammatory response to subsequent stress among 111 recently bereaved older adults. Participants completed a standardized psychological stressor and underwent a blood draw before, 45 min after, and 2 hr after the stressor. Those experiencing high grief symptoms (i.e., scoring > 25 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief) experienced a 45% increase in interleukin-6 (IL-6; a proinflammatory cytokine) per hour, whereas those experiencing low grief symptoms demonstrated a 26% increase. In other words, high grief was related to a 19% increase in IL-6 per hour relative to low grief. The grief levels of recently bereaved people were associated with the rate of change in IL-6 following a subsequent stressor, above and beyond depressive symptoms. This is the first study to demonstrate that high grief symptoms promote inflammation following acute stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *AGING
*DEATH
*MENTAL depression
*GRIEF
*BEREAVEMENT
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09567976
- Volume :
- 33
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Psychological Science (0956-7976)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 157637581
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211059502