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Stressed power motivation, sympathetic activation, immune function, and illness
Journal of Human Stress
|January 1, 1980
Summary
Individuals with a high need for power, inhibition, and stress (HHH syndrome) experience more frequent and severe illnesses. This may be due to chronic sympathetic overactivity suppressing the immune system, indicated by higher epinephrine and lower salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA).
Area of Science:
- Psychoneuroimmunology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Previous research links the high need for power, inhibition, and power stress (HHH) syndrome to increased illness severity.
- The underlying mechanism for this association remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of sympathetic nervous system activation in the HHH syndrome's association with illness.
- To examine the immunosuppressive effects of chronic sympathetic overactivity.
Main Methods:
- Assessed illness frequency and severity in college males with and without the HHH syndrome.
- Measured urinary epinephrine excretion rates and salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) concentrations.
- Analyzed correlations between physiological measures and self-reported illnesses.
Main Results:
- HHH individuals reported more frequent and severe illnesses.
- HHH subjects exhibited higher epinephrine excretion and lower S-IgA concentrations.
- Higher epinephrine correlated with lower S-IgA, which in turn correlated with increased illness frequency.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis that chronic sympathetic overactivity, driven by inhibited and stressed power motivation, leads to immunosuppression.
- This immunosuppressive effect increases susceptibility to illness in individuals with the HHH syndrome.