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Objective: To examine whether greater cognitive engagement during a marital conflict discussion, as evidenced by use of words that suggest thinking and meaning-making, results in attenuated proinflammatory cytokine increases to stress and wounding. Design: Husbands and wives (N 84 individuals) were observed during two separate 24-hr visits: each visit included a wounding procedure, which was followed by a nonconflictive marital discussion (first visit) and a conflictive marital discussion (second visit). Main Outcome Measures: Serum proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-). Results: Individuals who used more cognitive processing words during the conflict discussion (but not the nonconflictive discussion) showed smaller increases in serum IL-6 and TNF- over 24 hours; they also had lower levels of both cytokines 24 hours after baseline controlling for demographics, hostility, depressed mood, positive and negative interactions, and marital quality. Effects of word use were not mediated by ruminative thoughts after conflict. Although both men and women benefited from their own cognitive engagement, only husbands’ IL-6 patterns were affected by spouses’ engagement. Conclusion: In accord with research demonstrating the value of cognitive processing in emotional disclosure, this research suggests that productive communication patterns may help mitigate the adverse effects of relationship conflict on inflammatory dysregulation.

This research focused on perceptions held by heterosexual couples' friendship network concerning the couple's relationship. In a three-wave longitudinal study, we examined (a) whether these perceptions were similar to the couple's views of the relationship, (b) whether they predicted current relationship state and future fate, and (c) how they compared with the couple's perceptions in predicting fate. Consistent with within-dyad idealization, results from a North American sample indicated that network perceptions of relationship state were significantly more negative than those held by a couple. Although both the couples' and the total networks' perceptions predicted fate, friends of the female couple member were particularly successful at predicting relationship dissolution. An examination of possible mechanisms whereby friends may come to possess particularly predictive perceptions supported the role of couple-disclosure in this process.