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Pessimism correlates with leukocyte telomere shortness and elevated interleukin-6 in post-menopausal women
Open accessAbstract
The combination of less positive and more negative expectations for the future (i.e., lower optimism and higher pessimism) increases risk for disease and early mortality. We tested the possibility that expectancies might influence health outcomes by altering the rate of biological aging, specifically of the immune system (immunosenescence). However, no studies to date have examined associations between optimism or pessimism and indicators of immunosenescence such as leukocyte telomere length (TL) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. We investigated whether dispositional tendencies towards optimism and pessimism were associated with TL and IL-6 in a sample of 36 healthy post-menopausal women. Multiple regression analyses where optimism and pessimism were entered simultaneously, and chronological age and caregiver status were controlled, indicated that pessimism was independently associated with shorter TL (beta=-.68, p=.001) and higher IL-6 concentrations (beta=.50, p=.02). In contrast, optimism was not independently associated with either measure of immunosenescence. These findings suggest that dispositional pessimism may increase IL-6 and accelerate rate of telomere shortening. Mechanistic causal relationships between these parameters need to be investigated.
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“Suicidal depression is characterized by hopelessness and negative expectations for the future, which have previously been associated with elevated inflammation.[20,21]”
From SUICIDAL IDEATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH ELEVATED INFLAMMATION IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: Research Article: Suicidal Ideation and Inflammation (2013) · cites this paper as [21]
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Metadata
- Authors
- O’Donovan, A., Lin, J., Dhabhar, F. S., Wolkowitz, O., Tillie, J. M., Blackburn, E., & Epel, E.
- Affiliations
- University College Dublin (IE)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Epel, E.
- Venue
- Brain Behavior and Immunity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-05
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 446-449
- ISSN
- 0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2719778
- OpenAlex
- W2025357040
- Cited by
- 161
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 13.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K08MH064110)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- pessimism, optimism, leukocyte telomere length, telomere shortening, interleukin-6, immunosenescence, biological aging, postmenopausal women, health expectancy, caregiver status
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Attitude, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Humans, Leukocytes, Middle Aged, Personality, Personality Inventory, Surveys and Questionnaires, Regression Analysis, Stress, Psychological, Health Behavior, Interleukin-6, Telomere, Caregivers, Patient Selection, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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