Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Univerisity of Utah

Bert N. Uchino
Department of Psychology
University of Utah
380 South 1530 East, Room 502,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 -0251

Office: 813 Social And Behavioral Science Building
Office Phone: (801) 581-5682
Lab Phone: (801) 585-5548
E-mail: bert.uchino@psych.utah.edu
Fax: (801) 581-5841
 

Our relationships with others form a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. In the classic analysis by Emile Durkheim (1951), suicide rates were higher among individuals who were less socially integrated. The loneliness and despair that characterize a lack of social connections may be responsible for such unfortunate outcomes. Less obvious, however, is the possibility that individuals with poor relationships may also be more at risk for physical disease endpoints such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, or infectious diseases. Is there evidence that such an association exists? If so, how is it that social relationships influence such disease processes? The answer to the first question is relatively well documented. In a review of large prospective studies it was found that less socially integrated individuals had higher mortality rates from all causes, including cardiovascular mortality (House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). In fact, the evidence linking social relationships to mortality was comparable to standard risk factors such as smoking and physical activity.

What is less known is the answer to the second question of how social relationships influence such long-term health outcomes. Our program of research has been aimed at examining how social relationships influence health at multiple levels of analysis. We have been examining the social (e.g., types of social interactions), cognitive (e.g., how these interactions are interpreted or construed), and physiological (e.g., cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune) processes associated with our all important social relationships (see Uchino, Cacioppo, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1996; Uchino, Uno, & Holt-Lunstad, 1999 for reviews). For instance, in our program of research we have found that perceptions of supportive relationships predicts reduced cardiovascular reactivity during stress (Uchino & Garvey, 1997; Uno, Uchino, & Smith, 2000) and lower blood pressure in older adults (Uchino, Kiecolt-Glaser, & Cacioppo, 1992; Uchino et al., 1995; Uchino et al., 1999). More recently, we have been developing a broad framework for conceptualizating relationships that differ in how we feel towards them (i.e., primarily positive, primarily negative, both postive and negative). Critical data are now being collected but our recent studies funded by the National Institutes of Health suggest that network members who are sources of positive and negative feelings (ambivalence) may have important and detrimental physiological consequences in their own right (Uchino et al., 2001; Uno et al., 2002). We are now evaluating various hypotheses about why relationships that are sources of ambivalence may have negative consequences.

This research has been generously supported by National Institutes of Health James A. Shannon Director's Award (1 R55 AG13968) and a National Institute of Mental Health grant (RO1 MH58690).

• Uchino, B.N., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1992). Age-related changes in cardiovascular response as a function of a chronic stressor and social support. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 839-846.     PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1994). Construals of preillness relationship quality predict cardiovascular response in family caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease victims. Psychology and Aging, 9, 113-120.    PDF FILE


• Berntson, G.G., Cacioppo, J.T., Binkley, P.F., Uchino, B.N., Quigley, K.S., & Fieldstone, A. (1994). Autonomic cardiac control: III. Psychological stress and cardiac response in autonomic space as revealed by pharmacological blockades. Psychophysiology, 31, 599-608.


• Cacioppo, J.T., Malarkey, W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Uchino, B.N., Sgoutas-Emch, S.A., Sheridan, J.F., Berntson, G.G., & Glaser, R. (1995). Heterogeneity in neuroendocrine and immune responses to brief psychological stressors as a function of autonomic cardiac activation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57, 154-164.


• Uchino, B.N., Cacioppo, J.T., Malarkey, W., & Glaser, R. (1995). Individual differences in cardiac sympathetic control predict endocrine and immune responses to acute psychological stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 736-743.     PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Cacioppo, J.T., Malarkey, W., Glaser, R., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (1995). Appraisal support predicts age-related differences in cardiovascular function in women. Health Psychology, 14, 556-562.     PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Cacioppo, J.T., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 488-531.    PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N. & Garvey, T.G. (1997). The availability of social support reduces cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 20, 15-27.


• Uchino, B.N., Holt-Lunstad, J., Uno, D., & Betancourt, R. (1999). Social support and age-related differences in cardiovascular function: An examination of potential mediators. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 21, 135-142.


• Uchino, B.N., Uno, D., & Holt-Lunstad, J. (1999). Social support, physiological processes, and health. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8, 218-221.


• Uchino, B.N., Uno, D., Holt-Lunstad, J. & Flinders, J.B. (1999). Age-related differences in cardiovascular reactivity during acute psychological stress in men and women. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 54B, P339-P346.


• Uchino, B.N., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., & Glaser, R. (2000). Psychological modulation of cellular immunity. In J.T. Cacioppo, L.G. Tassinary, & G.G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology (pp. 397-424). New York: Cambridge University Press.


• Smith, T.W., Ruiz, J., & Uchino, B.N. (2000). Vigilance, active coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction in young men. Health Psychology, 19, 382-392.


• Uchino, B.N., Berntson, G.G., Holt-Lunstad, J.L., & Cacioppo, J.T. (2001). Stress-induced autonomic and immunologic reactivity. In R. Ader, D.L. Felton, & N. Cohen (Eds.), Psychoneuroimmunology (3rd ed.), pp. 317-333. New York: Academic Press.


• Uchino, B.N., Holt-Lunstad, J., Uno, D., & Flinders, J.B. (2001). Heterogeneity in the Social Networks of Young and Older Adults: Prediction of Mental Health and Cardiovascular Reactivity during Acute Stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 361-382.    PDF FILE


• Uno, D., Uchino, B.N., & Smith, T.W. (2002). Relationship Quality Moderates the Effect of Social Support Given by Close Friends on Cardiovascular Reactivity in Women. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 9, 243-262.


• Holt-Lunstad, J., Uchino, B.N., & Smith, T.W., Cerny, C.B., & Nealey-Moore, J.B. (2003). Social Relationships and Ambulatory Blood Pressure: Structural and Qualitative Predictors of Cardiovascular Function During Everyday Social Interactions. Health Psychology, 22, 388-397.    PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T.W., & Bloor, L. (2004). Heterogeneity in social networks: A comparison of different models linking relationships to psychological outcomes. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23,. 123-139    PDF FILE


• Bloor, L. E., Uchino, B.N., Hicks, A., & Smith, T.W. (in press). Social Relationships and Physiological Function: The Effects of Recalling Social Relationships on Cardiovascular Reactivity. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 29-38.


• Smith, T.W., Ruiz, J.M., & Uchino, B.N. (2004). Mental activation of supportive ties reduces cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress in young men and women. Health Psychology, 23,. 476-485.


• Uchino, B.N. (2004). Social support and physical health: Understanding the health consequences of our relationships. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.    PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Holt-Lunstad, J., Bloor, L.E, & Campo, R.A. (2005). Aging and cardiovascular reactivity to stress: Longitudinal evidence for changes in stress reactivity. Psychology and Aging, 20, 134-143.    PDF FILE


• Uchino, B.N., Holt-Lunstad, J., Uno, D., Campo, R., & Reblin, M. (in press). The social neuroscience of relationships: An examination of health relevant pathways. In E. Harmon-Jones & P. Winkielman (Eds.), Fundamentals of Social Neuroscience. New York: Guilford.


• Uchino, B.N., Smith, T.W., Holt-Lunstad, J.L., Campo, R., & Reblin, M. (in press). Stress and illness. In J. Cacioppo, L. Tassinary, & G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology (3rd edition). New York: Cambridge University Press.


• Uchino, B.N., Berg, C.A., Smith, T.W., Pearce, G., & Skinner, M. (in press). Age-related differences in ambulatory blood pressure reactivity during stress: Evidence for greater blood pressure reactivity with age. Psychology and Aging.


• Uchino, B.N. (in press). Social support and health: A review of physiological processes potentially underlying links to disease outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

• Garvey, Tim S. (1998). Rudimentary determinants of social support: Under what conditions are friends the best source of support. Department of Psychology Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


• Holt-Lunstad, J. (1998). Gender differences in cardiovascular responses to competitive tasks. Department of Psychology Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


• Weir, John (1999). Pessimistic shifts in anticipation of risk factor test results. Department of Psychology Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


• Uno, Darcy (1999). Effects of type of support and gender of support provider on cardiovascular reactivity during acute stress. Department of Psychology Dissertation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City,Utah.


• Holt-Lunstad, J. (2001). Social Ties in the context of life events: The moderating role of relationship quality on cardiovascular reactivity when discussing positive and negative life events. Department of Psychology Dissertation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


• Bloor, L. (2001). Do relationships schemata and attachment style contribute to cardiovascular reactivity during speaking tasks? Department of Psychology Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


• Campo, R. (2001-present). Contrasting the affects models: The negativity bias, positivity bias, and evaluative activation model. Department of Psychology Thesis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Undergraduate Courses

• 3410 Introduction to Social Psychology
• 3460 Introduction to Health Psychology

Graduate Courses

• 6100 Practicum in Teaching Psychology
• 6420 Research Methods in Social Psychology
• 6962 Stress, Physiological Processes, and Health
• 6962 Stress and Coping
• 6962 Psychoneuroimmunology
• 7964 Social Neuroscience

Married to Heather M. Llenos
Parents: Harold and Evelyn Uchino
Siblings: Deborah, Derek, and Dawn

Mentors:

Undergraduate - David L. Watson, Elaine Hatfield
Graduate - John Cacioppo, Janice Kiecolt-Glaser

Hobbies: Golf, Basketball, Golf, Surfing, Golf, Psychology, and Golf

A Few of My Favorite Papers

• Cacioppo, J.T. & Berntson, G.G. (1992). Social psychological contributions to the decade of the brain: Doctrine of multilevel analysis. American Psychologist, 47, 1019-1028.


• Cacioppo, J.T., Berntson, G.G., & Andersen, B.L. (1991). Psychophysiological approaches to the evaluation of psychotherapeutic process and outcomes, 1991: Contributions from Social Psychophysiology. Psychological Assessment, 3, 321-336.


• Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D.A.J., & Smith, A.P. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. New England Journal of Medicine, 325, 606-612.


• Coyne, J.C. & DeLongis, A. (1986). Going beyond social support: The role of social relationships in adaptation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 454-460.


• House, J.S., Landis, K.R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, 540-545.


• Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Glaser, R., Gravenstein, S., Malarkey, W.B., & Sheridan, J. (1996). Chronic stress alters the immune response to influenza virus vaccine in older adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93, 3043-3047.


• Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Marucha, P.T., Malarkey, W.B., Mercado, A.M., & Glaser, R. (1995). Slowing of wound healing by psychological stress. Lancet, 346, 1194-1196.


• Monroe, S.M. et al. (1986). Social support, life events, and depressive symptoms: A 1-year prospective study. JPSP, 54, 424-431.


• Manuck, S.B., Kaplan, J.R., & Clarkson, T.B. (1983). Behaviorally induced heart rate reactivity and atherosclerosis in Cynomolgus monkeys. Psychosomatic Medicine, 45, 95-108.


• Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L. (1987). Human aging: Usual and successful. Science, 237, 143-149.

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