Marital relationships linked to mortality, high blood pressure risk

By Chioma Obinna

Scientists have again discovered how marital relationship affects couples’ health. While other studies have shown that stress and negative marital quality can influence mortality and blood pressure, there has not been research that discussed how it might affect married couples over time.
With systolic blood pressure as a gauge, researchers assessed whether an individual’s blood pressure is influenced by their own as well as their partner’s reports of chronic stress and whether there are gender differences in these patterns.
The findings published  in the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences titled, “Stress and Negative Relationship Quality among Older Couples: Implications for Blood Pressure”, addressed several questions including; does chronic stress predict blood pressure?
Does the association between chronic stress and blood pressure vary between husbands and wives? Does negative relationship quality predict blood pressure?
Other questions addressed includes; does the association between negative relationship quality and blood pressure vary by gender? Does negative marital quality moderate the stress-blood pressure link? And does the moderating effect of negative marital quality differ for wives and husbands? The findings however supported previous research that asserts stress and relationship quality has both direct and moderating effects on the cardiovascular system.
The study also indicated that it is important to consider the couple as a whole rather than the individual when examining marriage and health.
Most importantly, the study revealed that wives’ stress has important implications for husbands’ blood pressure, particularly in more negative relationships. Specifically looking at the effects of negative relationship quality, the researchers found that effects weren’t recognised when examining individuals but there were when examining interactions between both members of couple.
Reacting to the study, the lead author Kira S. Birditt said:“We were particularly excited about these findings because they show that the effects of stress and negative relationship quality are truly dyadic in nature.”
“An individuals’ physiology is closely linked with not only his or her own experiences but the experiences and perceptions of their spouses. We were particularly fascinated that husbands were more sensitive to wives’ stress than the reverse especially given all of the work indicating that wives are more affected by the marital tie.
“We speculate that this finding may result from husband’s greater reliance on wives for support which may not be provided when wives are more stressed.”