Marital Conflict in Older Adults
Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Ronald Glaser, John T. Cacioppo, Robert C. MacCallum, Mary Snydersmith, Cheongtag Kim, William B. Malarkey
1997
Psychosomatic Medicine
Objective: To assess endocrinological and immunological correlates of marital conflict and marital satisfaction, 31 older couples (mean age 67 years) who had been married an average of 42 years were studied. Method: Couples were admitted to the Clinical Research Center and a catheter was placed in each subject's arm. Blood was drawn on entry for immunological assays; for hormone analyses, five blood samples were drawn during a 30-minute conflict discussion and a 15-minute recovery session. The
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... onflict session was recorded on videotapes that were later coded for problem-solving behaviors using the Marital Interaction Coding System (MICS). Results: Among wives, escalation of negative behavior during conflict and marital satisfaction showed strong relationships to endocrine changes, accounting for 16% to 21% of the variance in the rates of change of cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and norepinephrine (but not epinephrine). In contrast, husbands' endocrine data did not show significant relationships with negative behavior or marital quality. Both men and women who showed relatively poorer immunological responses across three functional assays (the blastogenic response to two T-cell mitogens and antibody titers to latent Epstein-Barr virus) displayed more negative behavior during conflict; they also characterized their usual marital disagreements as more negative than individuals who showed better immune responses across assays. Conclusion: Abrasive marital interactions may have physiological consequences even among older adults in longterm marriages. ACTH = adrenocorticotropic hormone; Con A = concanavalin A; CPQ = Communications Patterns Questionnaire; CRC = Clinical Research Center; EBV = Epstein-Barr virus; EPI = epinephrine; GH = growth hormone; HLM = hierarchical linear model; IF = immunofluorescence; MANOVA = multivariate analysis of variance; MAT = Marital Adjustment Test; MICS = Marital Interaction Coding System; NEPI = norepinephrine; OMSP = Oregon Marital Studies Program; PHA = phytohemagglutinin; PSS = Perceived Stress Scale.
doi:10.1097/00006842-199707000-00001
pmid:9251151
fatcat:vydl6janajez3f7zfdv37gjjra