Positive affect, negative affect, and the moderating effect of writing on siga antibody levels

Abstract

The impact of humorous and stressful stimuli on 50 students' secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations was examined, as well as how writing about those stimuli moderated this relationship. Subjects watched a humorous or stressful video and then wrote about either the video or a mundane topic. Subjects' saliva was collected before and at three points subsequent to watching the video and assayed for sIgA concentrations. A repeated measures analysis of covariance revealed that video writers had higher sIgA concentrations than mundane writers, and that men and women differed in response to the humor video. The findings are consistent with recent evidence that it is possible to moderate the relationship between environmental stimuli and immunological functioning.

Keywords:

• title
• sIgA
• immune system
• affect
• antibody