Psychology Meets Biology in COVID-19: What We Know and Why It Matters for Public Health

Emily J Jones; Kieran Ayling; Cameron R Wiley; Adam W A Geraghty; Amy L Greer; Julianne Holt-Lunstad; Aric A Prather; Hannah M C Schreier; Roxane Cohen Silver; Rodlescia S Sneed; Anna L Marsland; Sarah D Pressman; Kavita Vedhara

doi:10.1177/23727322221145308

Psychology Meets Biology in COVID-19: What We Know and Why It Matters for Public Health

Policy Insights Behav Brain Sci. 2023 Mar;10(1):33-40. doi: 10.1177/23727322221145308. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
² Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
³ Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
⁴ Primary Care Research Centre, School of Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
⁵ Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁸ Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychological Science, Department of Medicine, Program in Public Health, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
¹⁰ Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Abstract

Psychosocial factors are related to immune, viral, and vaccination outcomes. Yet, this knowledge has been poorly represented in public health initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review provides an overview of biopsychosocial links relevant to COVID-19 outcomes by describing seminal evidence about these associations known prepandemic as well as contemporary research conducted during the pandemic. This focuses on the negative impact of the pandemic on psychosocial health and how this in turn has likely consequences for critically relevant viral and vaccination outcomes. We end by looking forward, highlighting the potential of psychosocial interventions that could be leveraged to support all people in navigating a postpandemic world and how a biopsychosocial approach to health could be incorporated into public health responses to future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; loneliness; psychosocial factors; psychosocial stress; social connection; vaccine efficacy; viral susceptibility.

Abstract

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