Social Psychology Network

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Sheldon Cohen

Sheldon Cohen

Dr. Cohen's work focuses on the roles of stress, social support systems and personality in health and well-being. He has published pioneering theoretical and empirical work on the effects of aircraft noise on health and development of school children, and on the roles of stress and social networks in physical and mental health.

During the last 25 years, he has been studying the effects of stress, social support and personality on immunity and susceptibility to infectious disease. His experimental laboratory work focuses on establishing the neuroendocrine (hormonal) pathways that may link psychological states to alterations in the immune system, while his correlational work focuses on identifying neuroendocrine, immune, and behavioral pathways that link stress, personality, social networks and socioeconomic status to disease susceptibility. His classic work on the role of psychosocial factors in susceptibility to the common cold has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Health Psychology
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Personality, Individual Differences

Research Group or Laboratory:

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Books:

  • Cohen, S., Kessler, R. C., & Underwood Gordon, L. (Eds.) (1995). Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists. New York: Oxford.
  • Cohen, S., Underwood, L., & Gottlieb, B. (Eds.). (2000). Social support measurement and interventions: A guide for health and social scientists. New York: Oxford.

Journal Articles:

  • Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59, 676-684.
  • Cohen, S., Alper, C., Doyle, W. J., Adler, N., Treanor, J., & Turner, R. (2008). Objective and subjective socioeconomic status and susceptibility to the common cold. Health Psychology, 27, 268-279.
  • Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., & Baum, A. (2006). Socioeconomic status is associated with stress hormones. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 414-420.
  • Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., & Skoner, D. P. (1999). Psychological stress, cytokine production, and severity of upper respiratory illness. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 175-180.
  • Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Skoner, D. P., Fireman, P., Gwaltney, J., & Newsom, J. (1995). State and trait negative affect as predictors of objective and subjective symptoms of respiratory viral infections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 159-169.
  • Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Skoner, D. P., Rabin, B. S., & Gwaltney, J. M., Jr. (1997). Social ties and susceptibility to the common cold. Journal of the American Medical Association, 277, 1940-1944.
  • Cohen, S., Frank, E., Doyle, W. J., Skoner, D. P., Rabin, B. S., & Gwaltney, J. M., Jr. (1998). Types of stressors that increase susceptibility to the common cold in adults. Health Psychology, 17, 214-223.
  • Cohen, S., & Janicki-Deverts, D. (2009). Can we improve our physical health by altering our social networks? Perspectives in Psychological Science, 4, 375-378.
  • Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., & Miller, G. E. (2007). Psychological stress and disease. Journal of the American Medical Association, 298, 1685-1687.
  • Cohen, S., & Lemay, E. (2007). Why would social networks be linked to affect and health practices? Health Psychology, 26, 410-417.
  • Cohen, S., Miller, G. E., & Rabin, B. S. (2001). Psychological stress and antibody response to immunization: A critical review of the human literature. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 7-18.
  • Cohen, S., & Pressman, S. (2006). Positive affect and health. Current Directions in Psychology, 15, 122-125.
  • Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D. A. J., & Smith, A. P. (1991). Psychological stress in humans and susceptibility to the common cold. New England Journal of Medicine, 325, 606-612.

Sheldon Cohen
Department of Psychology
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
United States of America

  • Phone: (412) 268-2336

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