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Good marriage = good blood pressure
A happy marriage is good for your blood pressure, but a stressed one can be worse than being single, a study suggests.
- AP
- Published: 23:54 March 20, 2008
New York: A happy marriage is good for your blood pressure, but a stressed one can be worse than being single, a study suggests.
That second finding is a surprise because prior studies have shown that married people tend to be healthier than singles, said researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad.
It would take further study to sort out what the results mean for long-term health, said Holt-Lunstad, an assistant psychology professor at Brigham Young University. Her study was reported online by the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
The study involved 204 married people and 99 single adults. Most were white, and it's not clear whether the same results would apply to other ethnic groups, Holt-Lunstad said.
Study volunteers wore devices that recorded their blood pressure at random times over 24 hours. Married participants also filled out questionnaires about their marriage.
Analysis found that the more marital satisfaction and adjustment spouses reported, the lower their average blood pressure was over the 24 hours and during the daytime. However, spouses who scored low in marital satisfaction had higher average blood pressure than single people did.
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