Mental Attitude: Catching Colds?

The risk of contracting a cold, regardless of pre-existing immunity, after being exposed to cold viruses is 52% less in parents compared with those who have no children. The finding may be expected considering that when children get colds, the parents may develop protective antibodies against the specific viruses that cause these colds. However, the findings revealed that based on levels of antibodies to the study viruses, the lower risk of colds in parents could not be explained by pre-existing immunity. Volunteers who were parents tended to develop fewer colds irrespective of whether or not they had protective levels of antibodies. One possible explanation may be that being a parent improves regulation of immune factors (cytokines) that are triggered in response to infection. According to earlier research, cytokine responses explain the protective effects of psychological factors, such as lower stress or a positive attitude against the risk of colds.
American Psychosomatic Society, July 2012