Valentina Gonzalez/Rice University

Bad Cold? If You're Lonely, It May Feel Worse

ArticlePress release
Behavioral & Mental Health
Current Medical News
+1
Contributed byMaulik P. Purohit MD MPHMay 24, 2017

Suffering through a cold is annoying enough, but if you're lonely, you're likely to feel even worse, according to Rice University researchers.

A study led by Rice psychologist Chris Fagundes and graduate student Angie LeRoy indicated people who feel lonely are more prone to report that their cold symptoms are more severe than those who have stronger social networks.

"Loneliness puts people at risk for premature mortality and all kinds of other physical illnesses," LeRoy said. "But nothing had been done to look at an acute but temporary illness that we're all vulnerable to, like the common cold."

The study is the subject of a paper published this week in Health Psychology.

The researchers drew a distinction between feeling lonely and actual social isolation.

"This paper is about the quality of your relationships, not the quantity," LeRoy said. "You can be in a crowded room and feel lonely. That perception is what seems to be important when it comes to these cold symptoms."

Carrying out this task meant finding lonely people, isolating them -- and giving them a cold.

A total of 159 people age 18-55, nearly 60 percent of them men, were assessed for their psychological and physical health, given cold-inducing nasal drops and quarantined for five days in hotel rooms.

The participants, scored in advance on the Short Loneliness Scale and the Social Network Index, were monitored during and after the five-day stay. After adjusting for demographics like gender and age, the season, depressive affect and social isolation, the results showed those who felt lonely were no more likely to get a cold than those who weren't.

But those who were screened in advance for their level of loneliness and became infected -- not all of the participants did -- reported a greater severity of symptoms than those recorded in previous studies used as controls. The size of the participants' social networks appeared to have no bearing on how sick they felt.

"Previous research has shown that different psycho-social factors like feeling rejected or feeling left out or not having strong social bonds with other people do make people feel worse physically, mentally and emotionally," LeRoy said. "So we had that general framework to work with."

The effect may be the same for those under other kinds of stress, Fagundes said. "Anytime you have an illness, it's a stressor, and this phenomenon would probably occur," he said. "A predisposition, whether it's physical or mental, can be exaggerated by a subsequent stressor. In this case, the subsequent stressor is getting sick, but it could be the loss of a loved one, or getting breast cancer, which are subjects we also study.

"What makes this study so novel is the tight experimental design. It's all about a particular predisposition (loneliness) interacting with a particular stressor," he said.

"Doctors should take psychological factors into account at intake on a regular basis," Fagundes said. "It would definitely help them understand the phenomenon when the person comes in sick."

"We think this is important, particularly because of the economic burden associated with the common cold," LeRoy added. "Millions of people miss work each year because of it. And that has to do with how they feel, not necessarily with how much they're blowing their noses."

The findings are also an incentive to be more socially active, she said. "If you build those networks -- consistently working on them and your relationships -- when you do fall ill, it may not feel so bad."


Materials provided by Rice University. Original written by Mike Williams. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Disclaimer: DoveMed is not responsible for the accuracy of the adapted version of news releases posted to DoveMed by contributing universities and institutions.

Primary Resource:

LeRoy, A. S., Murdock, K. W., Jaremka, L. M., Loya, A., & Fagundes, C. P. (2017). Loneliness predicts self-reported cold symptoms after a viral challenge. Health Psychology36(5), 512. 

Was this article helpful

On the Article

Maulik P. Purohit MD MPH picture
Approved by

Maulik P. Purohit MD MPH

Assistant Medical Director, Medical Editorial Board, DoveMed Team

0 Comments

Please log in to post a comment.

Related Articles

Test Your Knowledge

Asked by users

Related Centers

Loading

Related Specialties

Loading card

Related Physicians

Related Procedures

Related Resources

Join DoveHubs

and connect with fellow professionals

Related Directories

Who we are

At DoveMed, our utmost priority is your well-being. We are an online medical resource dedicated to providing you with accurate and up-to-date information on a wide range of medical topics. But we're more than just an information hub - we genuinely care about your health journey. That's why we offer a variety of products tailored for both healthcare consumers and professionals, because we believe in empowering everyone involved in the care process.
Our mission is to create a user-friendly healthcare technology portal that helps you make better decisions about your overall health and well-being. We understand that navigating the complexities of healthcare can be overwhelming, so we strive to be a reliable and compassionate companion on your path to wellness.
As an impartial and trusted online resource, we connect healthcare seekers, physicians, and hospitals in a marketplace that promotes a higher quality, easy-to-use healthcare experience. You can trust that our content is unbiased and impartial, as it is trusted by physicians, researchers, and university professors around the globe. Importantly, we are not influenced or owned by any pharmaceutical, medical, or media companies. At DoveMed, we are a group of passionate individuals who deeply care about improving health and wellness for people everywhere. Your well-being is at the heart of everything we do.

© 2023 DoveMed. All rights reserved. It is not the intention of DoveMed to provide specific medical advice. DoveMed urges its users to consult a qualified healthcare professional for diagnosis and answers to their personal medical questions. Always call 911 (or your local emergency number) if you have a medical emergency!