Irish Wedding News
24/11/2014
The research, which has been funded by the National Institute of Aging, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of Health, and has been published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that older couples in a bad marriage can have a higher risk of heart disease than those in a good marriage. The risk of the disease is also said to be higher in female spouses.
Hui Liu, lead investigator and sociologist from Michigan State University, looked at five years worth of data of some 1,200 married men and women who took part in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project. At the start of the study, respondents were aged between 57 and 85.
The survey included questions such as marital quality, as well as physical lab tests and self-reported issues of cardiovascular health, such as strokes, or heart attacks.
Liu then used this information to see how marital quality could be related to a risk of heart disease over time, and if there are any trends.
Her study revealed that a negative martial quality, such as someone who is demanding, has a larger effect on a person's heart health than a positive marital quality. That is, a bad marriage is more harmful to the health of a person's heart, than a good marriage is beneficial.
Elsewhere, the risk on heart health increases as a person becomes older, while marital quality was found to have a larger impact on a woman's health than her male counterpart. There is no clear reason as to why this is the case, but Lui has said it could be because women tend to "internalize negative feelings and thus are more likely to feel depressed and develop cardiovascular problems."
In addition, while heart disease can lead to a decline in marital quality for women, the same cannot be said for men. In other words, women are more likely to provide support and care to sick husbands, but husbands are less likely to take care of sick wives.
"In this way, a wife's poor health may affect how she assesses her marital quality, but a husband's poor health doesn't hurt his view of marriage," Liu commented.
She concluded that the findings suggest marriage counselling – or other programmes which aim to improve marital quality – are vital for couples into their 70s and 80s.
Liu said: "Marriage counseling is focused largely on younger couples, but these results show that marital quality is just as important at older ages, even when the couple has been married 40 or 50 years."
(JP/MH)
20/03/2020
LeToya Luckett-Walker Is Pregnant
Charlotte Crosby Finds New Romance
Lydia Bright Gets Candid About Giving Birth
Lana Del Ray Splits From Boyfriend
Angelica Ross Learns Of Boyfriend's Secret Life
Ashley Graham's Breastfeeding Struggle
Susanna Reid's Mother's Day Plans
Lin-Manuel Miranda Homeschooling Kids
Kristen Bell Speaks Of Pride For Daughters
Prince George & Princess Charlotte Now Homeschooled
A Bad Marriage Is Bad For The Heart – Study
A new study has claimed that a poor marriage can be bad for a person's health.The research, which has been funded by the National Institute of Aging, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of Health, and has been published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that older couples in a bad marriage can have a higher risk of heart disease than those in a good marriage. The risk of the disease is also said to be higher in female spouses.
Hui Liu, lead investigator and sociologist from Michigan State University, looked at five years worth of data of some 1,200 married men and women who took part in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project. At the start of the study, respondents were aged between 57 and 85.
The survey included questions such as marital quality, as well as physical lab tests and self-reported issues of cardiovascular health, such as strokes, or heart attacks.
- - - - - - Advertisement - - - - - -
Liu then used this information to see how marital quality could be related to a risk of heart disease over time, and if there are any trends.
Her study revealed that a negative martial quality, such as someone who is demanding, has a larger effect on a person's heart health than a positive marital quality. That is, a bad marriage is more harmful to the health of a person's heart, than a good marriage is beneficial.
Elsewhere, the risk on heart health increases as a person becomes older, while marital quality was found to have a larger impact on a woman's health than her male counterpart. There is no clear reason as to why this is the case, but Lui has said it could be because women tend to "internalize negative feelings and thus are more likely to feel depressed and develop cardiovascular problems."
In addition, while heart disease can lead to a decline in marital quality for women, the same cannot be said for men. In other words, women are more likely to provide support and care to sick husbands, but husbands are less likely to take care of sick wives.
"In this way, a wife's poor health may affect how she assesses her marital quality, but a husband's poor health doesn't hurt his view of marriage," Liu commented.
She concluded that the findings suggest marriage counselling – or other programmes which aim to improve marital quality – are vital for couples into their 70s and 80s.
Liu said: "Marriage counseling is focused largely on younger couples, but these results show that marital quality is just as important at older ages, even when the couple has been married 40 or 50 years."
(JP/MH)
Top stories
20/03/2020
LeToya Luckett-Walker Is Pregnant
Charlotte Crosby Finds New Romance
Lydia Bright Gets Candid About Giving Birth
Lana Del Ray Splits From Boyfriend
Angelica Ross Learns Of Boyfriend's Secret Life
Ashley Graham's Breastfeeding Struggle
Susanna Reid's Mother's Day Plans
Lin-Manuel Miranda Homeschooling Kids
Kristen Bell Speaks Of Pride For Daughters
Prince George & Princess Charlotte Now Homeschooled
