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Kudos to @jayvanbavel & colleagues for this paper filled with pandemic-relevant behavioral science, much of it already being digested in the media. The @affectivescilab, which I co-direct, would like to offer a friendly amendment. /1 https://twitter.com/jayvanbavel/status/1242458576192524293
Media reporting on Covid-19 has had a blind spot for psychosocial research on what happens AFTER exposure to a virus, ie. who's more likely to develop symptoms. Various research shows that PSYCHOLOGICAL factors get under the skin to influence the biological reality of disease. /2
For example, psychologist Sheldon Cohen & colleagues placed viruses into the noses of healthy adults and observed who developed respiratory infections. (One was a coronavirus linked to a common cold.) Only 1/3 of subjects developed symptoms, on average. /3 https://www.cmu.edu/common-cold-project/
In other words, a virus is necessary but not sufficient for illness. Factors like chronic stress, low socioeconomic status, social isolation, negative affect, & childhood adversity increase the likelihood of illness after exposure. /4
Conversely, resilience to illness is associated with social connectedness, social support, positive affect, and a high quality relationship with parents in childhood. Such findings suggest that psychological interventions can have biological impacts. /5
Of course, stress reduction & other psychological caretaking should not replace handwashing, physical distancing, etc. But it may be biologically justified to reduce stress, loneliness, & negative affect, while increasing a feeling of social belonging & positive affect. /6
We don’t yet know if these sorts of findings apply to Covid-19 or generalize to a pandemic. But they provide a solid foundation for hypotheses to test. By ignoring this research, we miss a golden opportunity to make game-changing and potentially life-saving discoveries. /7
As more people lose their jobs, this research becomes even more relevant. It also helps to explain (& could have been used to predict) recent evidence that Covid-19 exposure is more lethal for people who experience social & economic disadvantage. /8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/07/coronavirus-is-infecting-killing-black-americans-an-alarmingly-high-rate-post-analysis-shows/
What you think & feel, & how you experience the world, translates into vulnerabilities for illness. Research that acknowledges these links could prove vital to epidemiologists, virologists, & other biologists on the front lines of dealing with this pandemic. /9
As research continues to dissolve the illusory boundaries between the mental and the physical, psychological scientists have an opportunity to remedy the media's current blind spot and create opportunities for discovery that could ultimately save lives. /10
