posted on 2017-06-28, 08:21authored bySheldon CohenSheldon Cohen, Cuneyt M. Alper, Andrew S. Baum, Margaret Clark, William Doyle, Bruce S. Rabin, John J. Treanor, Ronald B. Turner
The Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center (PMBC) Study was a prospective viral challenge study conducted from 2000-2004 among healthy volunteers ages 21-55 (mean age 37.3; SD 8.8). This study included detailed daily interviews with participants over 14 consecutive days to assess social interactions (number of interactions, with whom they were interacting, etc.), mood, and health behaviors. PMBC also included in-depth measurement of various aspects of marital relationships, including relationship satisfaction, spousal social support, marital commitment, and spousal self-disclosure. In addition (as part of the broader Mind-Body Center Project) numerous other psychological and behavioral variables were assessed including personal attributes, social factors, socioeconomic status, and health practices. Biological assessments before viral challenge included epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and stimulated cytokine production. Post-challenge measures, in addition to standard virology, included local (nasal secretions) cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-α, and TNF-α).
PMBC study documentation including details of measures used to collect the data and how variables were created can be obtained from the Common Cold Project website (www.cmu.edu/common-cold-project)
Funding
PMBC received primary funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI P01 HL65111 and P01 HL65112, Mind-Body Center: Understanding Shared Psychobiological Pathways, Project 1: Psychobiological Pathways: Risk for Respiratory Illness); supplemental funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status & Health; and secondary funding from a National Cancer Institute grant awarded to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (NCI P30CA047904). These data are being made available as part of the Common Cold Project, a data aggregation project supported by a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH R01 AT006694-01, Social Ties and Health: Aggregating Data from Five Viral-Challenge Trials).