has shown that couples who are more negative and hostile in their daily interactions have heightened cardiovascular reactivity, immune response, higher inflammation as well as higher cortisol levels. Now researchers are trying to find out how this directly impacts health outcomes.
“We know relationships have a strong impact on longevity, and now we’re trying to tease apart the biological markers that can foster and exacerbate health and health problems,” says Shrout.While Shrout’s research has been chiefly focused on couple relationships, she says that the quality of our social network, for example, family members and friends, can also impact health.explored the public health impact of loneliness on the individual and on society.
Couples counseling is a powerful tool for improving relations and opening up the lines of communication between couples. It helps to strengthen relationships and, as a result, improve physical health down the line. But just as a positive relationship is good for your health, a continuously hostile one is the opposite. Staying in a toxic relationship to avoid being alone is not what the doctor ordered either. If the relationship is hostile and negative most of the time, it’s likely impacting the body in a hostile and negative way.
In the end, “the quality of the relationship is the most important part, not just marital status,” says Shrout.