SynthesisPsychological bulletin2004
Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry.
Synthesis in Psychological bulletin, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 1,062 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Feasibility Trial of a Brief Positive Affect Intervention to Improve the Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccine Response in Older Adults.
Project CHROMA (Cognitive Health Research on Musical Arts)
The Immune Response of Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Levobupivacaine Using Paravertebral or Superficial Chest Blocks
Who cites it
1,062 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 3,264 citations in OpenAlex.
- Grief-Related Chest Pain: A Review, Conceptual Analysis, and Integrative Model.Psychophysiology · 2026Pooled it
- Neighborhood Safety and Hypertension Risk: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Pooled it
- Influence of Inflammation, Gut Microbiota, and Stress on Cognition and Oral Health Therapies.Current Alzheimer research · 2025Pooled it
- Chronic stress in relation to clinical burnout: an integrative scoping review of definitions and measurement approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- The interplay between climate change and ageing: A systematic review of health indicators.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Mindfulness Therapy on Stress Biomarkers and Psychological Symptoms in Women With Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- An exploratory study on the changes in immune and metabolic parameters by 10 weeks of yoga intervention among medical students.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Parameterizing Toxic Stress in Early Childhood: Maternal Depression, Maltreatment, and HPA-Axis Variation in a Pilot Intervention Study.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2025Trial
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of InsightApp for Anxiety, Valued Action, and Psychological Resilience: Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mental health · 2025Trial
- Neurobiological and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of a Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique Based on Neofunctional Psychotherapy: A Pilot RCT.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2024Trial
- Trajectories of intimate partner violence and their relationship to stress among young women in South Africa: An HPTN 068 study.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Impact of exercise training and diet therapy on the physical fitness, quality of life, and immune response of people living with HIV/AIDS: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2024Trial
- Evaluation of the benefits of neutral bicarbonate ionized water baths in an open-label, randomized, crossover trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Distress, multimorbidity, and complex multimorbidity among Chinese and Korean American older adults.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Evaluation of biochemical changes and treatment efficacy in patients with bruxism following botulinum toxin or splint therapy: a randomized clinical trial.Clinical oral investigations · 2023Trial
- Associations between chronic placental inflammation, fetal brain development and later autism traits.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Balancing inflammation under stress: glucocorticoid regulation of innate immune pathways.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- Review
1,002 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The present report meta-analyzes more than 300 empirical articles describing a relationship between psychological stress and parameters of the immune system in human participants. Acute stressors (lasting minutes) were associated with potentially adaptive upregulation of some parameters of natural immunity and downregulation of some functions of specific immunity. Brief naturalistic stressors (such as exams) tended to suppress cellular immunity while preserving humoral immunity. Chronic stressors were associated with suppression of both cellular and humoral measures. Effects of event sequences varied according to the kind of event (trauma vs. loss). Subjective reports of stress generally did not associate with immune change. In some cases, physical vulnerability as a function of age or disease also increased vulnerability to immune change during stressors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.