Lonely students have weaker immunity

College students who feel lonely on campus and are cut off from their friends and family may receive less benefit from flu vaccinations than their peers. Researchers from the Pittsburgh's Carnegie Melon University found that the loneliness and social isolation that university freshman experiences in the first semester is powerful enough to have a very real impact on immune function, with potentially health relevant implications. It is therefore important for students to form social connections to protect themselves against illness, (and against) poorer immune response to vaccinations. Researchers looked at the influence of loneliness and social isolation on the immune response of 83 healthy men and women in their first semester of college. At the start of the study, the fresh students completed questionnaires about their psychological status, including their degree of loneliness. Then they began recording information about loneliness, stress and mood in their palm computer. Two days after the students began this online diary, they were vaccinated against influenza. Chronically lonely students mounted a weaker immune response as measured by their production of antibodies to the influenza virus at both one and four months after vaccination than those who reported less loneliness. The association was true for students who consistently reported loneliness throughout the four-month study period, but not for those who only reported a high degree of loneliness at the start of the semester. A poorer immune response was also seen in those who reported having a small social network that is few friends or family members with whom they were in regular contact at the start of the study as well as for those who remained socially isolated throughout the study period. Students who consistently experienced a high degree of loneliness also reported more psychological stress. Stress is known to be bad for a person's health so it may be a good pathway, by which the immune system is affected. Parents shouldn't worry about the transient loneliness that their children may experience upon their transition to a new school and a new city. But if their children seem to be experiencing social isolation many months into their new program, it might be best to advise them to try to get out there and meet people. Participating in a club or society might be beneficial because of the social contact that it offers. While the lonely, socially isolated students did not have the strongest immune response, that doesn't mean they received no benefit from their vaccination. Their immune response was less robust than their non-lonely and less isolated counterparts.