Health and Marriage: The Cortisol Connection

The Huffington Post:

Bad marriages can be sickening. Most people don’t have to be convinced of this, but for those who do, several decades of studies offer plenty of proof. Even so, very little is known about exactly how marriage quality affects health. Do strife and rudeness and neglect–and all the other signs of marital unhappiness–somehow get under the skin and trigger physical ailments? Or do warmth and trust and understanding and appreciation follow some biological pathway to wellness? Or both?

Relationship experts have been focusing recently on marital partners’ beliefs about their marriage–specifically a partner’s belief that the other partner understands and cares for him or her. Whether true or not, this belief–this perception that a partner is responsive, and reciprocates one’s love and appreciation–is associated with satisfaction and intimacy in marriages. Could it also be related to physical health?

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It did, as the scientists report in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. Perceived responsiveness was associated with both steeper cortisol slope and higher wakeup cortisol level. Importantly, this link between responsiveness and healthy cortisol was driven, at least in part, by diminishing negative emotions over the decade. In other words, believing that one’s partner cares–this perception leads to a decline in negative emotions, which in turn affects cortisol–and ultimately health.

Read the whole story: The Huffington Post

Wray Herbert is an author and award-winning journalist who writes two popular blogs for APS, We’re Only Human and Full Frontal Psychology. Follow Wray on Twitter @wrayherbert.