Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infection: DEPRESSION AS A MEDIATOR OF ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN NEUROTICISM AND UPPER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS

Research Work Unit MRO4101.OOA-6004. The vie-.s ijhesented are those of the authors and do not rpe'ct the ofiicial policy of the Department of thE Navy, Departmenr ol Derense, nor the U. S. Government. SUMMARY Upper respiratory infections are commonplace among military personnel in training or operational environments. Although these infections typically produce mild, self-limiting disease, laboratory evidence indicates they can substantially impair cognitive and physical performance, and, therefore, contribute to a substantial num'er of "walking wounded " in operational settings. The development of methods of reducing the effects of infectious disease will progress more rapidly if high risk individuals can be identified for study to carefully delineate the processes of disease susceptibility as a precursor to development of interventions targeted on specific deficiencies. Prior research supports anecdotal observations that neurotic tendencies are related to higher incidence of illness under stress