A happy marriage has been shown to lower the risks of stress-related health conditions, but new research shows marital stress can have the opposite effect, and make some married people more vulnerable to depression.
The findings, by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and published in the Journal of Psychophysiology, indicate chronic marital stress makes it more difficult for some people to enjoy positive life experiences – a hallmark of depression. Individuals in bad marriages are also more likely to report other depressive symptoms.
Lead researcher Richard Davidson said the findings could help researchers understand what makes some people more vulnerable to mental and emotional health challenges and develop new tools to help them.
"This is not an obvious consequence, if you will, of marital stress, but it's one I think is extraordinarily important because of the cascade of changes that may be associated," said Davidson. "This is the signature of an emotional style that reveals vulnerability to depression."
Married people are, in general, happier and healthier than single people, according to numerous studies. But marriage can also be a significant sources of long-lasting social stress, the researchers noted.
For the study, funded in part by the National Institute on Aging, Davidson and his team surveyed a group of married individuals and asked them to rate their stress on a six-point scale. They also evaluated the participants for depression.
Study participants who reported higher marital stress were found to have reduced ability to experience positive experiences than those reporting more satisfaction in their unions.
"To paraphrase the bumper sticker: 'Stress happens,' " said Davidson. "There is no such thing as leading a life completely buffered from the slings and arrows of everyday life."
By understanding what makesindividuals more prone to depression and other emotional disturbances, Davidson said he hopes to find tools — such as meditation — to stop it from happening in the first place.
"How we can use simple interventions to actually change this response?" he said. "What can we do to learn to cultivate a more resilient emotional style?"
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