Neuroticism, cortisol reactivity, and antibody response to vaccination

This study examined whether neuroticism was related to the antibody response to influenza vaccination and whether the relationship was mediated by cortisol reactions to an acute laboratory mental stress. Antibody status was assessed at baseline and to a trivalent influenza vaccination in 57 students at five-weeks and five-month follow-up. Neuroticism was also measured at baseline. Cortisol was measured at rest and in response to a pressurised mental arithmetic task. At both follow-ups, higher neuroticism scores were associated with poorer A/Panama antibody response, following adjustment for baseline antibody titre. Higher neuroticism scores were also associated with blunted cortisol reactivity, and blunted cortisol reactivity was associated with poorer A/Panama antibody response, but only at five months. However, there was no conclusive evidence that cortisol reactivity mediated the association between neuroticism and antibody response.