Divorce and Family Law
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December 6th, 2005

"An unhappy marriage may have lasting health problems"

A new study appearing in the Archives of General Psychiatry shows that couples that argue often may take longer to heal from simple wounds than those in less hostile relationships. The researchers say unhappy marriages may trigger unhealthy changes that could have a lasting effect on a person''s mental and physical health.

Previous studies have suggested that being in an unhappy or troubled marriage may increase stress levels which may increase the risk of heart disease or depression as a result. Researchers say that many studies have shown marriage seems to have a protective affect against health threats, but it may not apply to all marriages.

In the recent study, researchers looked at how hostile marital behaviors affected wound healing in 42 healthy couples married an average of 12 years. Each couple was admitted to a hospital research unit for 24 hours to monitor their body''s response to various situations. A vacuum tube was used to create blister wounds on the arms of participants during each visit and monitored for healing following discharge.

In the first visit, the couples participated in a session designed to help them support each other, and in the second visit, the couples talked about a source of their biggest marital conflict. Results showed that couples that demonstrated consistently higher levels of hostility during both visits healed 40 percent slower than the others, and their wounds took an average of one day longer to heal completely.

The study results showed local production of pro-inflammatory proteins known as cytokines was lower after the couples argued than after the support session. Hostile couples also produced relatively larger increases in cytokines the morning after a big fight compared with couples in happy marriages.

The researchers the prolonged changes in these proteins could be altering the body''s natural response to threats and increase the risk of a variety of health problems over time. Constant marital conflict has been linked to an increased risk of health problems like heart disease, cancer, arthritis, type 2 diabetes and depression.