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One of the consequences of chronic stress is suppression of the immune system, leading to susceptibility to infection. Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), a common herpesvirus, lies latent after infection; successful regulation by the immune system can be measured by the titer of serum EBV antibodies. Thus, EBV antibody titer can be used as a reflection of immunological strength and has been shown to be sensitive to
psychosocial stressors, both acute and chronic. In this study, the authors examined efficacy of interpersonal verbal disclosure of a stressful or traumatic event in decreasing EBV antibody titer (indicating increased suppression of the virus). Normal college undergraduates underwent a series of three weekly sessions during which the experimental group related a stressful or traumatic experience that they had not disclosed to many people, while a randomly assigned control group filled out psychometric questionnaires. EBV antibody titer was measured at the beginning of the experiment and also at the end of the three weeks. No difference in antibody titer change was found between the experimental and control groups, but individual differences in the experiences and reactions of the experimental group were able to account for 78% of the variance of antibody change in that group. High levels of emotional involvement in the disclosure, presumably reflecting introspection and facilitating therapeutic changes, along with a decrease over the three weeks in cognitive avoidance behavior, were the most important factors in predicting a decreased EBV antibody titer, as long as the traumatic event occurred at least five months prior to the experimental disclosure. As cognitive avoidance paradoxically requires hypervigilance to avoid reminders of the stressful event, it consequently involves sympathetic autonomic arousal, leading to high blood pressure, increased heart rate, and other symptoms of physiological arousal which can be damaging in the long term. The authors suggest