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Marital stress has been associated with immune dysregulation, including increased production of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Attachment style, one’s expectations about the availability and responsiveness of others in intimate relationships, appears to influence physiological stress reactivity and thus could influence inflammatory responses to marital conflict. Thirty-five couples were invited for two 24-hour admissions to a hospital research unit. The first visit included a structured social support interaction, while the second visit comprised the discussion of a marital disagreement. A mixed effect within-subject repeated measure model indicated that attachment avoidance significantly influenced IL-6 production during the conflict visit but not during the social support visit. Individuals with higher attachment avoidance had on average an 11% increase in total IL-6 production during the conflict visit as compared to the social support visit, while individuals with lower attachment avoidance had, on average, a 6% decrease in IL-6 production during the conflict visit as compared to the social support visit. Furthermore, greater attachment avoidance was associated with a higher frequency of negative behaviors and a lower frequency of positive behaviors during the marital interaction, providing a mechanism by which attachment avoidance may influence inflammatory responses to marital conflict. In sum, these results suggest that attachment avoidance modulates marital behavior and stress-induced immune dysregulation.

Although evidence suggests that attachment anxiety may increase risk for health problems, the mechanisms are not well understood. Married couples (N = 85, Mage = 38.67) provided saliva samples over three days and blood samples on two occasions. Participants with higher attachment anxiety produced more cortisol and had fewer numbers of CD45+ T cells, CD3+ T cells, CD3+CD4+ helper T cells, and CD3+CD8+ cytotoxic T cells than those with lower attachment anxiety. Higher cortisol was also related to fewer numbers of CD45+, CD3+, CD3+CD4+, and CD3+CD8+, which is mechanistically consistent with research showing that cortisol alters the cellular immune response. These data suggest that attachment anxiety may have physiological costs and provide a glimpse into the pathways through which social relationships impact health. The current study also extends attachment theory in an important new direction by utilizing a psychoneuroimmunological approach to the study of attachment anxiety, stress, and health.

In animal studies, the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin have been implicated in social behaviors. In humans, plasma levels of oxytocin covary with perceptions of relationship quality, but little is known about the association between plasma vasopressin and social behaviors in humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationships among plasma oxytocin and vasopressin and self-reported social functioning. Thirty-seven couples completed measures of social functioning and provided blood samples for neuropeptide analysis during a 24-hour admission to a hospital-based research unit. Higher plasma oxytocin was associated with less hostility among men, p = .001, but not women, p = .67. Across both men and women greater levels of vasopressin were associated with larger social networks, p = .05, less negative spousal interactions, p = .03, less attachment avoidance, p = .03, more attachment security p = .04, and marginally with greater spousal social support, p = .06. Overall, higher social functioning was associated with greater plasma vasopressin levels. This study provides evidence that plasma vasopressin levels have small, but significant associations with dimensions of social functioning in humans.