Janice Kiecolt-Glaser

The Ohio State University | OSU · Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research

Background This study examined how gut microbiota diversity and richness relate to T cell aging among 96 healthy adults of all ages. It also explored whether these links differed throughout the lifespan. Methods Peripheral blood was obtained from 96 study participants (N=96, aged 21-72) to assess mRNA markers of T cell aging (p16ink4a, p14ARF, B3g...

Simple Summary Depression and cognitive problems are common in breast cancer survivorship and reduce quality of life. Depression, a risk factor for cognitive decline, is often accompanied by elevated inflammation and a “leaky gut”, which can also impact cognitive function. This study assessed whether depression in tandem with either elevated inflam...

Background: Prior evidence has linked inflammation with impulsivity, but most of this evidence is cross-sectional. In this study, we provoked an acute inflammatory cytokine response to see whether it lowered prepotent response inhibition on three cognitive tasks. Method: This study features secondary analyses from a randomized crossover trial in...

Objective: In long-term relationships, conflict is inevitable, but physical and psychological aggression is not. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a known risk factor for age-related disease onset, and inflammation likely links the two. This study explores relationships between frequency of constructive (i.e., negotiation) and destructive (i.e.,...

Background: Breast cancer survivors often experience many somatic and cognitive side effects resulting from their cancer diagnosis and treatment, including higher rates of pain, fatigue, and memory/concentration problems. Emotion regulation offers opportunities to either enhance or dampen physical health. Purpose: In a secondary analysis of a do...

Objective: There is mixed evidence about whether omega-3 fatty acids reduce depressive symptoms. We previously reported that 4 months of omega-3 supplementation reduced inflammatory responsivity to a lab-based social stressor. In another study, we showed that those with exaggerated inflammatory responsivity to a social stressor had the greatest de...

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Breast cancer survivors have a high risk for chronic disease and early mortality, especially if their psychological and physical symptoms persist beyond treatment. We compared survivors’and noncancer patient controls’health trajectories. We also examined how their relationship satisfaction—a key health determinant—impacted the...

Marital quality shares ties to inflammation-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lab-based studies implicate hostility during marital conflict as a mechanism via inflammatory reactivity, but little attention has been paid to the inflammatory aftermath of other marital exchanges. A spouse's emotional distress is an important...

Objective Breast cancer survivors live longer due to more advanced cancer treatments; however, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading non-cancer cause of death in breast cancer survivors. Previous studies have shown that depression is associated with an increased risk of CVD development. This study investigated whether depressive symptoms or m...

Individuals respond differently to inflammation. Pain, sadness, and fatigue are common correlates of inflammation among breast cancer survivors. Stress may predict response intensity. This study tested whether breast cancer survivors with greater exposure to acute or chronic social or nonsocial stress had larger increases in pain, sadness, and fati...

Background: Couples' emotions and physiology change across interactions and based on behaviors. Aging couples' emotions and physiology may be closely related as they spend more time together and rely on each other for support. We examined aging couples' emotional and physiological associations across multiple indices and marital interactions; we a...

Reactivity to marital conflict has long been considered a critical mechanism linking marriage to health and well-being. Yet, developmental theories suggest conflict may subside with age. To compare mood and cardiovascular responses to two novel contexts—both partners’ upsetting personal experiences—with marital conflict reactivity, 107 couples ages...

Marital conflict poses health risks that intensify as couples grow older. Dyadic stress theories suggest spouses’ marital satisfaction and communication patterns alter cardiovascular function, a key pathway from troubled relationships to poor health. Despite these risks, older spouses are more likely to have a strong couple identity where they thin...

Objective: Conflict poses multiple relational and health risks. Dyadic stress theories suggest satisfaction and communication alter cardiovascular and autonomic function, key pathways from troubled relationships to poor health. However, "we-talk," a positive communication pattern, can strengthen relationships and promote health. We examined how ea...

Background Dyadic stress theories and research suggest that couples’ negative communication patterns threaten immune and emotional health, leaving partners vulnerable to illness. Spouses’ relationship perceptions can also color how they see and react to marital discussions. To identify pathways linking distressed marriages to poor health, this stud...

Background Inflammation can have social consequences, which may be relevant to inflammation’s link with depression. The current study tests whether a typhoid vaccine increases feelings of social disconnection and avoidance behavior. Method In two full-day visits at least three weeks apart, 172 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (Stage I-IIIA)...

Background Mindfulness meditation is a form of mind–body intervention that has increasing scientific support for its ability to reduce age-related declines in cognitive functioning, improve affective health, and strengthen the neural circuitry supporting improved cognitive and affective health. However, the majority of existent studies have been pi...

Background: Psychological disorders can substantially worsen physical symptoms associated with breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, reducing survivors' quality of life and increasing recurrence risk. Distress disorders may be particularly detrimental given their physical correlates. Across two studies, we examined the relationship between a dist...

Objectives: Social-emotional well-being is said to improve over adulthood, and studies of couples' age differences have focused primarily on marital conflict. The way couples discuss their relationship story predicts marital quality among newlyweds and long-married couples alike, yet older and younger couples' accounts have never been compared. Th...

Objectives Cancer patients often experience poor sleep quality, an aspect of health that accelerates the risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Higher intake of linoleic acid (LA: 18:2n-6) is linked with reduced risk for cardiometabolic diseases. This study has two objectives: To identify whether erythrocyte LA content is associated with s...

Objective: Colorectal cancer poses a significant threat to both psychological and physical health. This study examined relationships between anxiety and depressive symptoms with pain, fatigue, and inflammation among colorectal patients. Methods: Colorectal cancer patients (n = 88, stages 0-IV) completed a laboratory-based study visit before unde...

This volume traces the life journeys of a cohort of influential and transformative women in psychology, now in or nearing retirement, who have changed the discipline and the broader world of academia in significant ways. The 26 reflective essays record how these scholars thrived in an academic landscape that was often, at best, unwelcoming, and, at...

Purpose To investigate breast cancer survivors’ inflammatory responses to typhoid vaccine as a window into their innate immune response to novel pathogens. Methods This double-blind crossover trial randomized 158 breast cancer survivors to either the vaccine/saline placebo or the placebo/vaccine sequence. The relative contributions of age, cardior...

In both animals and humans, inflammatory stimuli – especially infections and endotoxin injections – cause “sickness behaviors,” including lethargy, malaise, and low mood. An emerging line of research asserts that inflammation may provoke present-focused decision making and impulsivity. The current article assesses that claim in the context of the b...

Background Breast cancer survivors are prone to weakened gut barriers, allowing bacteria to migrate into the blood stream. Gut permeability fuels inflammation, which, among survivors, can elevate risk for comorbid disease development, cancer recurrence, and a poor quality of life; however, survivors’ satisfying relationships can provide health bene...

The social-signal-transduction theory of depression asserts that people who experience ongoing interpersonal stressors and mount a greater inflammatory response to social stress are at higher risk for depression. The current study tested this theory in two adult samples. In Study 1, physically healthy adults ( N = 76) who reported more frequent int...

Marital quality shares ties to inflammation-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lab-based studies implicate hostility during marital conflict as a mechanism via inflammatory reactivity. However, developmental theories suggest that conflict declines with age. Spousal distress is an important but overlooked context for aging...

Aging theories posit that older adults maximize their well-being by regulating their emotions and investing in their closest relationships. Most research has examined these mechanisms using study confederates rather than close dyads. The existing work on couples has focused on marital conflict; none has examined responses to the spouse’s emotional...

Aging theories posit that older adults maximize their well-being by regulating their emotions and investing in their closest relationships. Most research has examined these mechanisms using study confederates rather than close dyads. The existing work on couples has focused on marital conflict; none has examined responses to the spouse’s emotional...

PurposeLeptin influences inflammation and tumor growth and leptin signaling is often dysregulated among obese breast cancer survivors. This leads to a lack of satiety and, ultimately, risk for further weight gain. Breast cancer survivors also experience high rates of depression and anxiety, which are linked to leptin production. This study examined...

According to extensive evidence, we-talk—couples’ use of first-person, plural pronouns—predicts better relationship quality and well-being. However, prior work has not distinguished we-talk by its context, which varies widely across studies. Also, little is known about we-talk’s consistency over time. To assess the stability and correlates of we-ta...

Background Breast cancer survivors face a number of physical health threats including cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among breast cancer survivors. Low heart rate variability (HRV) represents one well-established risk factor for poor cardiovascular health. Among physically healthy adults and breast cancer survivors, distress dis...

Higher levels of omega-3 track with longer telomeres, lower inflammation, and blunted sympathetic and cardiovascular stress reactivity. Whether omega-3 supplementation alters the stress responsivity of telomerase, cortisol, and inflammation is unknown. This randomized, controlled trial examined the impact of omega-3 supplementation on cellular agin...

Background Sarcopenia may hasten the risk of mortality in women with breast cancer. Long-chain omega-3 (n–3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn–3PUFAs) may favor muscle mass which, in turn, could enhance resilience of cancer patients toward cancer treatment. Objectives The objective of this study was to measure the relation of erythrocyte LCn–3PUFA...

Background Black breast cancer survivors have greater morbidity and mortality than White survivors. However, evidence comparing Black survivors’ psychological symptoms with their White counterparts has been mixed. Prior studies have not compared Black and White survivor’s distress-related symptom trajectories from pre- to post-treatment – the goal...

A number of studies have shown that self-rated health reliably predicts mortality. This study assessed the impact of perseveration on self-rated health, physical functioning, and physical symptoms (pain, fatigue, breast cancer symptoms) among breast cancer patients. We hypothesized that cancer-related distress would serve as an intervening variable...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine candidates are being evaluated, with the goal of conferring immunity on the highest percentage of people who receive the vaccine as possible. It is noteworthy that vaccine efficacy depends not only on the vaccine but also on characteristics of the vaccinated. Over the past 30 year...

The gut microbiota plays a role in a wide range of diseases and disorders, with low microbial diversity and richness emerging as notable risk factors. This longitudinal study addressed the impact of marital quality (assessed by the Couples Satisfaction Index) on changes in depressive symptoms, and gut diversity, richness, and permeability. On two o...

This review highlights key psychological and behavioral factors that can influence the immune system's response to a vaccine. The results generalize across a wide variety of vaccines, and therefore will likely be relevant to the SARS-COV-2 vaccine. Although the SARS-COV-2 vaccine candidates are highly efficacious, these psychological and behavioral...

This review highlights key psychological and behavioral factors that can influence the immune system's response to a vaccine. The results generalize across a wide variety of vaccines, and therefore will likely be relevant to the SARS-COV-2 vaccine. Although the SARS-COV-2 vaccine candidates are highly efficacious, these psychological and behavioral...

Even healthy older adults experience gastrointestinal (GI) and neurological changes. In fact, the aging process of these two systems are interrelated due the extensive, multifaceted communication network connecting them, termed the gut-brain axis. Age-related modification of the GI environment can influence the bacterial species that survive and th...

Objective: Breast cancer survivors who experience psychological and physical symptoms after treatment have an increased risk for comorbid disease development, reduced quality of life, and premature mortality. Identifying factors that reduce or exacerbate their symptoms may enhance their long‐term health and physical functioning. This study examine...

Social-emotional well-being is said to improve with age, but evidence for age differences in couples’ behavior and emotions—studied primarily during marital conflict—has been mixed. Characteristics of jointly told relationship stories predict marital quality among newlyweds and long-married couples alike, yet younger and older couples’ accounts hav...

According to socioemotional aging theories, people better regulate their emotions in older age by reframing stressors and focusing on the positive aspects of difficult experiences. However, empirical results have been mixed. To address this gap, we examined age differences in the language use and cardiovascular reactivity of 188 adults (mean age=56...

Background The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently named childhood abuse histories as a public health risk. Clear links between abuse histories and inflammation exist. However, it remains unknown how abuse histories impact inflammatory trajectories throughout adulthood. Accordingly, this study assessed inflammatory trajectories across three v...

Background and Objectives Individuals with social anxiety disorder show pronounced perceptual biases in social contexts, such as being hypervigilant to threat and discounting positive social cues. Parasympathetic activity influences responses to the social environment and may underlie these biases. This study examined the associations among social...

Objective Cross-sectional data have linked gut barrier abnormalities and endotoxemia with depression, even among those without gastrointestinal symptoms. This study examined longitudinal associations between endotoxemia markers and depressive symptoms, as well as the role of inflammation in this relationship. Design At three annual visits, 315 wom...

Brief everyday stressors can provoke cardiovascular, hormonal, and immune changes, and the magnitude and duration of these responses can vary considerably. Acute responses to daily stressors can differ widely among individuals experiencing the same stressor, and these physiological responses may not align with stress appraisals. This review highlig...

Spouses share common risks for cardiometabolic diseases: a person’s diabetes or hypertension raises the partner’s odds of developing the same condition. The mechanisms responsible for this disease concordance remain poorly understood. To examine three factors that may modulate partners’ cardiometabolic similarity—closeness, hostile marital behavior...

Background: Saturated-fat intake and endotoxemia can impair cognition. However, their acute impact on cognitive performance is unknown. Objective: This study assessed the impact of 2 high-fat meals and endotoxemia on attention. Methods: In this double-blind, randomized crossover trial, 51 women (n = 32 breast cancer survivors, n = 19 noncancer...

How the measurement of aging biomarkers in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes (PBTLs) is influenced by cell composition is unclear. Here, we collected peripheral blood and isolated CD3+ PBTLs from 117 healthy couples between the ages of 21 and 72. Each sample was profiled for Horvath epigenetic clock (DNAm), p16INK4a expression, cytomegalovirus (CMV) s...

Losing a spouse can increase the risk for premature mortality, and declines in immune health are thought to play a role. Most of the supporting data have come from cross-sectional studies comparing already-bereaved individuals to matched controls, which provides valuable information about health disparities between groups but does not reveal health...

Background Breast cancer survivors with elevated inflammation have a greater risk for cancer recurrence, premature mortality, and comorbid disease development. The psychological stress survivors experience when confronted with a breast cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment can heighten inflammation. Identifying factors that reduce stress and inflam...

Purpose Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used in cancer patients to manage treatment-related gastrointestinal symptoms and to prevent damage to the gastric mucosal lining during treatment. However, PPI use may contribute to cognitive problems. To compare PPI-users and non-users, breast cancer survivors reported cognitive problems in three studies....

Replies to comments made by H. Brazeau, G. N. Pfund, and P. L. Hill (see record 2019-81943-004) on the original article by J. K. Kiecolt-Glaser (see record 2018-62311-007). Brazeau, Pfund, and Hill's (2020) comment on Kiecolt-Glaser's (2018) "Marriage, Divorce, and the Immune System" review article provides a thoughtful application of attachment th...

Spouses share age-related disease risks: a person’s diabetes or hypertension raises the partner’s odds for the same condition. To probe the importance of partners’ closeness, marital satisfaction, and age for spouses’ similarity in cardiometabolic health, 43 disease-free couples ages 24-61 provided fasting glucose, fat and carbohydrate oxidation, a...

Objectives: Marital support is central to couples' relationships, yet support's health implications can vary widely. Guided by attribution bias and aging theories, the current study examined whether age and marital satisfaction moderate the links of perceived and received spousal support to aging-related biomarkers. Method: Couples (N=93, ages 2...

Humans and their gut bacteria have evolved multiple ways to communicate with and regulate one another. Psychological stress and depression can promote consumption of highly palatable foods, influencing which gut bacteria thrive. Additionally, stress and depression can reshape the gut bacteria’s composition through stress hormones, inflammation, and...

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between blood levels of adiponectin and leptin with lean body and trunk adipose mass in women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed baseline data from five previous clinical studies involving postmenopausal women (n =...

The Western diet, characterized by high intake of saturated fat, sugar, and salt, is associated with elevated inflammation and chronic disease risk. Few studies have investigated molecular mechanisms linking diet and inflammation; however, a small number of randomized controlled trials suggest that consuming an anti-inflammatory diet (i.e., a prima...

Objectives: Cancer contributes to adverse changes in body composition that may increase risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Skeletal muscle is a main driver of cardiometabolic health. We hypothesize that higher intake of long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3PUFAs) is associated with muscle health. This study evaluates whether LCn3PUFA...

Background: Growing evidence implicates intestinal permeability as a source of inflammation. Depression promotes inflammation, which can erode the gut barrier – a top-down pathway. In turn, greater intestinal permeability (i.e., leaky gut) provokes inflammation, thereby heightening risk for depression – a bottom-up pathway. Methods: The current st...

Background Prior to treatment, breast cancer patients are less physically fit compared to peers; during cancer treatment, their fitness typically declines. Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced activity up to 5 years post-treatment, but research has not identified mechanisms linking depression and lower activity. The current study assesse...

While psychosocial factors are powerful predictors of depression in cancer patients, objective measures (e.g., chemotherapy treatment length and type) have been inconsistently linked to depression. Even so, several studies have found higher rates of depression among chemotherapy patients. The kynurenine pathway has been proposed as an inflammation-...

Many breast cancer survivors experience improvements in depression, fatigue, and inflammation after cancer treatment, but a subset of survivors experience persistent symptoms years after treatment ends. Prior cross-sectional research indicates that childhood adversity predicts elevated symptoms one year following cancer treatment; however, studies...

Among breast cancer survivors, a subset experiences persistent post-treatment fatigue and diminished quality of life. Chronic inflammation underlies fatigue, and mechanistic studies have demonstrated a link between proinflammatory dietary components (e.g., refined starches, sugar, trans-fats) and systemic inflammation. The Dietary Inflammatory Inde...

Lonely people’s heightened risks for chronic health conditions and early mortality may emerge in part through cellular aging. Lonelier people have more severe responses to acute stress, increasing their risk for herpesvirus reactivation, a possible path to shorter telomeres. Lower parasympathetic activity may modulate this risk. To examine the asso...

This article reviews evidence from several lines of work to describe how marriage and divorce can provoke health-relevant immune alterations, including ways that marital closeness can be perilous for health and divorce can be beneficial. The multiple stresses of a troubled relationship are depressogenic, and the development of a mood disorder sets...

Social-emotional aging theories suggest that older adults maintain well-being and health in part by avoiding interpersonal stressors; yet, most marital research has examined age differences during conflict. Alternatively, marital support is likely relevant for couples of all ages. To address differences in support-health associations by age and mar...

Background and objectives: Stress can trigger physical pain and disturb sleep. Whether dementia family caregivers experience heightened pain is unknown. Cycles of unwanted thoughts about caregiving stressors and avoidance of these thoughts-that is, caregiving-related distress-may exacerbate both pain and sleep disturbances, and genetic susceptibil...

Couples influence each other's mental and physical health. This review focuses on how couples' relationships, the partners' individual and joint vulnerabilities, and their health behaviors influence health through changes in the gut microbiota, metabolism, and immune function. Couples' shared stressors and emotions and their intertwined lifestyles...

Background Lonely people’s heightened risks for chronic health conditions and early mortality may emerge in part through cellular aging. Lonelier people have more severe sympathetic responses to acute stress, increasing their risk for herpesvirus reactivation, a possible path to shorter telomeres. Parasympathetic function may modulate this risk. P...

Background: Marital distress and depression work in tandem to escalate risks for inflammation-related disorders. Translocation of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) from the gut microbiota to blood circulation stimulates systemic inflammatory responses. Methods: To investigate increased gut permeability (a "leaky gut") as one potentia...

Hostile conflict in marriage can increase risks for disease and mortality. Physiological synchrony between partners-e.g., the linkage between their autonomic fluctuations-appears to capture engagement, or an inability to disengage from an exchange, and thus may amplify the health risks of noxious interactions such as marital conflict. Prior work ha...

Cancer-related distress is common among breast cancer survivors prior to treatment and is associated with adverse health effects. Moreover, many survivors continue to experience distress after treatment ends, and the impact of prolonged cancer-related distress on health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of canc...

An unhappy marriage increases disease and mortality risks. Discordant couples exhibit stronger links to their partner’s autonomic fluctuations–that is, stronger covariation–than do satisfied couples, but whether this physiological signature plays a role in marriage’s health effects is unknown. To examine associations between couples’ heart rate var...

Dual-process models of health behavior posit that implicit and explicit attitudes independently drive healthy behaviors. Prior evidence indicates that implicit attitudes may be related to weekly physical activity (PA) levels, but the extent to which self