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Psychological Risk Factors of the Common Cold and Its Behavioral Consequences

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Behavioral Medicine

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Abstract

This chapter puts behavioral medicine in context of one of the most common health problems, the common cold. After describing the opening case, the chapter reviews the incidence, consequences, and pathophysiology of the upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).

Psychological risk factors of the URTI are reviewed which include chronic stress, low positive affectivity, and little social support, to name but a few factors. The cognitive-behavioral consequences of the common cold are reviewed followed by the PNI pathways linking psychosocial factors to the URTI. We then learn about the effects of psychological interventions on preventing the URTI and finish this chapter by retuning to its opening case. This chapter represents one of the most profound and empirically consistent evidences for the role of behavioral medicine in a health condition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SCALab, University of Lille, Lille, France

    Yori Gidron

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  1. Yori Gidron
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Gidron, Y. (2019). Psychological Risk Factors of the Common Cold and Its Behavioral Consequences. In: Behavioral Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18893-1_6

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