Thoughtful Words Help couples

Stay Fit When Arguing

Amitabh Avasthi
Couples who bring thoughtful words to a fight release
lower amounts of stress-related proteins, suggesting that
rational communication between partners can ease the
impact of marital conflict on the immune system.
"Previous research has shown that couples who are
hostile to each other show health impairments and are at
greater risk of disease," said Jennifer Graham, assistant
professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State. "We
wanted to know if couples who use thoughtfulness and
reasoning in the midst of a fight incur potential health
benefits."
Individuals in a stressful situation -- as in a troubled
relationship -- typically have elevated levels of chemicals
known as cytokines. These proteins are produced by cells
in the immune system and help the body mount an
immune response during infection. However, abnormally
high levels of these proteins are linked to illnesses such
as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and
some cancers.
"Typically, if you bring people to a lab and put them
under stress, either by engaging them in a conflict or
giving them a public speaking task, you can see an
increase in proinflammatory cytokines such as
Interleukin-6 (Il-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-
alpha)," explained Graham.
Using data collected by Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser,
distinguished university professor, S. Robert Davis Chair
of Medicine and professor of psychiatry and psychology,
Ohio State University College of Medicine; and Ronald
Glaser, director, Institute for Behavioral Medicine
Research, Kathryn & Gilbert Mitchell Chair in Medicine
and professor of molecular virology, immunology and
medical genetics, the researchers looked at levels of Il-6
and TNF-alpha in 42 married heterosexual couples both
before and after marital discussion tasks.
"We specifically looked at words that are linked with
cognitive processing in other research and which have
been predictive of health in studies where people express
emotion about stressful events," explained Graham.
"These are words like -- think, because, reason, and why--
that suggest people are either making sense of the
conflict or at least thinking about it in a deep way."
For the study, the 42 couples made two separate
overnight visits over two weeks. "We found that,
controlling for depressed mood, individuals who showed
more evidence of cognitive discussion during their fights
showed smaller increases in both Il-6 and TNF-alpha
cytokines over a 24-hour period," said Graham.
During their first visit, couples had a neutral, fairly
supportive discussion with their spouse. But during the
second visit, couples focused on the topic of greatest
contention between them. "An interviewer figured out
ahead of time what made the man and woman most
upset in terms of their relationship and we gave each
person a turn to talk about that issue," said Graham.
Researchers measured the levels of cytokines before and
after the two visits and used linguistic software to
determine the percentage of certain types of words from
a transcript of the conversation.
The researchers' results suggest that people who used
more cognitive words during the fight showed a smaller
increase in the Il-6 and TNF-alpha. Cognitive words used
during the neutral discussion had no effect on the
cytokines.
When they averaged the couples' cognitive words during
the fight, they found a low average translated into a
steeper increase in the husbands' Il-6 over time. There
were no effects on the TNF-alpha. However, neither
couple’s nor spouse’s cognitive word use predicted
changes in wives’ Il-6, nor TNF-alpha levels for either
wives or husbands.
Graham speculates that women may be more adept at
communication and perhaps their cognitive word use had
a bigger impact on their husbands. Wives were also more
likely than husbands to use cognitive words.