Heart Disease Risk Linked With Spouses’ Social Support

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/heart-disease-risk-linked-with-spouses-social-support.html?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=eureka&utm_campaign=mattersoftheheart

February 6, 2014
Contact: Anna Mikulak
Association for Psychological Science

Matters of the heart can influence actual heart health, according to new research. A study from researchers at the University of Utah shows that the ways in which your spouse is supportive — and how you support your spouse — can actually have significant bearing on your overall cardiovascular health.

The findings reveal that when both partners perceive the support they get from each other as ambivalent — that is, sometimes helpful and sometimes upsetting– each partner’s levels of coronary artery calcification (CAC) tend to be particularly high.

-----

Given that the participants were married for an average of 36 years, one might predict that overall marital satisfaction would have a significant impact on this cardiovascular risk factor – but the researchers didn’t find that to be the case. It was the positive and negative aspects of lending support that were most significant in predicting cardiovascular health, suggesting that these factors exert their effects independently of overall marital quality.

-----