Psychological Variables in Allergic Disorders: A Review

Experimental and clinical studies relating psychological variables and allergic ill-ness are summarized and critically reviewed. Special emphasis is given to methodological issues. The review, embracing principally English-language re-ports since 1950, focuses on respiratory allergy—asthma, rhinitis, hay fever. A SYCHOLOGICAL variables, viewed as etiological factors or as concomitant processes in allergic disease, have long been of speculative interest. Since 1950, the body of research and clinical reports relating psychological variables and al-lergic illness has grown rapidly. This paper will summarize and critically re-view this body of literature with the aim of integrating findings from diverse sources and methods. Special emphasis will be placed on methodological aspects in order to provide a focus for evaluat-ing the current status of the area and to suggest profitable areas for future work. Mainly, papers in English dealing with psychological factors in respiratory allergy, published since 1950, are re-viewed. Previous work has been com-prehensively reviewed by Dunbar and Leigh;37 however, certain influential earlier papers are included in the pres-ent review as points of orientation.