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Pessimism correlates with leukocyte telomere shortness and elevated interleukin-6 in post-menopausal women

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2008.11.006Get rights and content

Abstract

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 (β = −.68, p = .001) and higher IL-6 concentrations (β = .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.

Introduction

Expecting less positive and/or more negative outcomes in the future (i.e., lower optimism and/or higher pessimism) is associated with faster progression of diseases of aging (Allison et al., 2003, Matthews et al., 2004) and earlier mortality (Giltay et al., 2006), but the mechanisms underlying this association have been elusive. Immunosenescence (aging of the immune system) has been implicated in health defects associated with aging, including susceptibility to infectious disease, diseases of aging, and earlier mortality (Effros, 2004). Telomeres, consisting of repetitive DNA sequences complexed with proteins, cap chromosome ends and protect against chromosomal damage (Blackburn, 2001). Human population studies show a general decline of leukocyte telomeric DNA length (TL) with age, suggesting that leukocyte telomere shortness may serve as an indicator of immunosenescence (Effros, 2004).

Chronic psychological stress has been associated with accelerated leukocyte telomere shortening (Damjanovic et al., 2007, Epel et al., 2004). In one study, caregivers had shorter TL than controls (Damjanovic et al., 2007). In another study, caregivers and non-caregivers had similar mean TL, but perceived stress was a significant predictor of TL in both caregiving and non-caregiving women and across the combined sample (Epel et al., 2004). No studies have examined how individual differences in perceived stress vulnerability might promote telomere shortening.

An individual’s scores on optimism and pessimism measures generally remain stable across time (Giltay et al., 2006, Scheier et al., 1994), and the combination of low optimism and/or high pessimism is associated with more negative mood, less positive mood and poorer coping with stress (Carver et al., 1993, Scheier and Carver, 1985). Generalized negative expectations for the future could increase vulnerability to high perceived stress and consequently, accelerated telomere shortening.

Inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6) can promote inflammatory processes, and both acute and chronic psychological stress have been associated with increased IL-6 (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2003, Steptoe et al., 2001). Repeated episodes of inflammation are associated with telomere shortening in leukocytes (Carrero et al., 2008, Wu et al., 2000). Thus, inflammatory processes may provide an important link between psychological stress and TL.

Positive and negative future thinking have different neural correlates (Sharot et al., 2007), and it has been suggested that optimism and pessimism have divergent genetic and environmental determinants (Plomin et al., 1992). Thus, it is important to separately examine associations between optimism, pessimism and health-related variables. The primary goal of the current study was to assess optimism vs. pessimism, in relation to TL, and in secondary analyses, whether this relationship might be mediated by neuroticism, perceived stress, and health behaviors.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

We recruited 36 healthy post-menopausal women aged between 50 and 80 years through flyers and posters in the community, and from elderly service providers in the Bay Area, California. This was a different sample from the premenopausal sample in which we previously reported a link between stress and telomere length (Epel et al., 2004). The post-menopausal sample described here included 30 White (81.1%), one Black, one Hispanic/Latina and four Asian women. Exclusion criteria included the presence

Results

The sample comprised 36 post-menopausal women ranging from 51 to 79 years (M age = 60.73, SD = 6.65; M BMI = 26.05, SD = 5.04). Of the women, 23 were caregivers for a relative with dementia and 13 were not caregiving and considered controls. Caregivers and controls were not significantly different on demographics, TL or IL-6, and the pattern of findings did not differ between groups. Accordingly, for the analyses reported here, we pooled data from caregivers and controls.

TL and IL-6 were significantly

Discussion

This study is the first demonstration that a personality trait, specifically higher pessimism, is associated with shorter TL in leukocytes. It is also the first demonstration that pessimism is associated with higher basal levels of IL-6, an indicator of systemic inflammation and possibly immune system aging (Effros, 2004, Franceschi et al., 2000). Diminished TL and higher IL-6 level each alone predict mortality (Cawthon et al., 2003, Kimura et al., 2008, Volpato et al., 2001). Hence, our data

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