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Studies have established that grown children’s problems affect parental well-being, but a dearth of research has addressed daily interactions and biological systems that may underlie these associations. This study examined whether parents have different types of daily interactions with adult children who have problems and whether those interactions are associated with variations in parents’ diurnal cortisol rhythms. Middle-aged parents (n = 197) reported their interactions with adult children for seven consecutive days and provided saliva, analyzed for cortisol, three times a day (wake, 30 minutes after wake, bedtime) for four of those days. Parents were more likely to report negative encounters but not less likely to report positive interactions or contact with adult children who suffered from problems. Interactions with adult children who had physical-emotional problems had more immediate same day associations with cortisol whereas interactions with adult children who had lifestyle-behavioral problems had more delayed, or next day associations with cortisol. Daily interactions and their associations with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis may be important mechanisms by which adult children with problems negatively affect parental well-being.

Individuals convicted of committing domestic violence are often court mandated to attend a Batterer Intervention Program (BIP). Evidence of the effectiveness of these programs, however, is inconclusive largely because of the diversity in approaches used by BIPs. In a pre-test/post-test design, the current study assessed outcomes associated with one specific BIP: a counseling-based, non-punitive psychoeducational program designed to treat both male and female domestic violence offenders. A sample of 149 clients completed a comprehensive survey both prior to and upon completion of the BIP. Participation in this BIP fostered attitudes known to be associated with nonviolence, including perceptions of accountability, anger management, indications of safety planning, and reported desire for change. Additionally, self-reported levels of psychological and physical violence decreased from pre- to post-treatment. Theoretical and therapeutic implications for BIPs are discussed.

Although evidence suggests that attachment anxiety may increase risk for health problems, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not well understood. In the current study, married couples ( N = 85) provided saliva samples over 3 days and blood samples on two occasions. Participants with higher attachment anxiety produced more cortisol and had fewer numbers of CD3+ T cells, CD45+ T cells, CD3+CD4+ helper T cells, and CD3+CD8+ cytotoxic T cells than participants with lower attachment anxiety. Higher cortisol levels were also related to fewer numbers of CD3+, CD45+, CD3+CD4+, and CD3+CD8+ cells, which is consistent with research showing that cortisol alters the cellular immune response. These data suggest that attachment anxiety may have physiological costs, and they provide a glimpse into the pathways through which social relationships affect health. The current study also extends attachment theory in an important new direction by demonstrating the utility of a psychoneuroimmunological approach to the study of attachment anxiety, stress, and health.

We examined the interplay between husbands’ and wives’ positive and negative nonsexual interpersonal behaviors, frequency of sexual intercourse, sexual satisfaction, and feelings of marital satisfaction. To do this, we conducted an in-depth face-to-face interview and completed a series of telephone diaries with 105 couples during their second, third, and fourteenth years of marriage. Consistent with the argument that women’s sexual response is tied to intimacy (Basson, 2000), multilevel analyses revealed that husbands’ positive interpersonal behaviors directed toward their wives—but not wives’ positivity nor spouses’ negative behaviors (regardless of gender)— predicted the frequency with which couples engaged in intercourse. The frequency of sexual intercourse and interpersonal negativity predicted both husbands’ and wives’ sexual satisfaction ; wives’ positive behaviors were also tied to husbands’ sexual satisfaction. When spouses’ interpersonal behaviors, frequency of sexual intercourse, and sexual satisfaction were considered in tandem, all but the frequency of sexual intercourse were associated with marital satisfaction. When it comes to feelings of marital satisfaction, therefore, a satisfying sex life and a warm interpersonal climate appear to matter more than does a greater frequency of sexual intercourse. Collectively, these findings shed much-needed light on the interplay between the nonsexual interpersonal climate of marriage and spouses’ sexual relationships.

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.

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.

In this study, a prototype analysis of romantic missing was conducted. College-age participants in the United States generated features of missing a partner (Study 1) and rated their centrality (Study 2). In a reaction time task, participants made category judgments for central features more quickly than for noncentral features (Study 3). In recognition and recall tasks, central features were more salient in participants’ memory, and participants evaluated individuals experiencing central features in vignettes as missing their partners more (Study 4). A prototypebased measure of missing administered to individuals in long-distance relationships (Study 5) correlated with commitment and attachment dimensions but only weakly with loneliness. Finally, level of missing differed based on whether individuals were in a geographically distant (vs. proximal) relationships (Study 6).

This paper reports the findings from two studies which examined the tendency of sexually-active college students to provide socially desirable (i.e., positively biased) responses to questions concerning condom use. The first study found that while female attitudes toward condom use and intentions to use a condom were not associated with social desirability, such attitudes and intentions were significantly related to two measures of impression management for males. The second study attempted to identify conditions under which the relationship between condom use responses and impression management might be attenuated. Specifically, we tested whether participants would report more negative attitudes toward using condoms, and weaker behavioral intentions, when questionnaire instructions emphasized (1) participant anonymity, (2) the scientific importance of obtaining accurate responses, or (3) a combination of these two instructional sets. Results suggest that, compared to a no-instruction control group, self-reported male attitude toward and intention regarding condom use become more negative when anonymity is stressed. Female responses were unaffected by any of the instruction sets compared to the control group. The two studies provide converging evidence that college males positively bias their responses to questions regarding condom use, and suggest the need for further research on the attenuation of such misrepresentation.

Animal studies have implicated oxytocin and vasopressin in social bonding, physiological stress responses, and wound healing. In humans, endogenous oxytocin and vasopressin levels covary with perceptions of relationship quality, marital behaviors, and physiological stress responses. To investigate relationships among marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing, and to determine the characteristics of individuals with the highest neuropeptide levels, 37 couples were admitted for a 24-h visit in a hospital research unit. After small blister wounds were created on their forearm, couples participated in a structured social support interaction task. Blister sites were monitored daily following discharge to assess wound repair speed. Blood samples were collected for oxytocin, vasopressin, and cytokine analyses. Higher oxytocin levels were associated with more positive communication behaviors during the structured interaction task. Furthermore, individuals in the upper oxytocin quartile healed blister wounds faster than participants in lower oxytocin quartiles. Higher vasopressin levels were related to fewer negative communication behaviors and greater tumor necrosis factor-alpha production. Moreover, women in the upper vasopressin quartile healed the experimental wounds faster than the remainder of the sample. These data confirm and extend prior evidence implicating oxytocin and vasopressin in couples' positive and negative communication behaviors, and also provide further evidence of their role in an important health outcome, wound healing.

A growing body of research linking psychological and behavioral factors to the incidence and progression of cancer suggests that psychosocial factors may have an impact on some types of cancer [1–6]. In this paper, we suggest that it is through the impact these behavioral and psychological factors have on the cellular immune response, including natural killer (NK) cell function, that they may ultimately affect the occurrence and progression of certain tumors. Our discussion of this link begins with a brief overview of the evidence that psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) research with healthy individuals may be relevant to cancer. Next, to link extant PNI research findings with tumorigenesis, we draw upon two important PNI findings relating psychological distress to two important aspects of carcinogenesis: (i) poorer repair of damaged cellular DNA and (ii) modulation of apoptosis. Finally, we focus on the implications of intervention research in cancer patients for cancer progression and treatment. Before reviewing the evidence regarding stress-related immunological changes, it should be noted that one recurrent concern in the literature is the question of the significance of the immune system for cancer. Cancer is comprised of a heterogeneous group of diseases with multiple etiologies [1], and immunological involvement varies across different cancers. Those cancers that are induced by chemical carcinogens (e.g. lung cancer) may be less influenced by psychological, behavioral and immunological factors than cancers that are associated with a virus, such as Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV), which are immunogenic. Suppression of cellular immunity is associated with a higher incidence of certain types of tumors, particularly EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases in organ transplant patients, and Kaposi’s sarcoma and EBVassociated B-cell lymphoma in AIDS patients [7]. Additionally, some researchers have questioned whether stress-related immune changes are of either the type or the magnitude to influence tumor growth and metastases [3, 8]. While such issues are beyond the scope of this paper, compelling evidence exists for the role of cells, such as NK cells, in resisting the progression and metastatic spread of tumors once they have developed [7]. Stress and 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.

Context A growing epidemiological literature has suggested that marital discord is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. In addition, depression and stress are associated with enhanced production of proinflammatory cytokines that influence a spectrum of conditions associated with aging. Objective To assess how hostile marital behaviors modulate wound healing, as well as local and systemic proinflammatory cytokine production. Design and Setting Couples were admitted twice to a hospital research unit for 24 hours in a crossover trial. Wound healing was assessed daily following research unit discharge. Participants Volunteer sample of 42 healthy married couples, aged 22 to 77 years (mean [SD], 37.04 [13.05]), married a mean (SD) of 12.55 (11.01) years. Interventions During the first research unit admission, couples had a structured social support interaction, and during the second admission, they discussed a marital disagreement. Main Outcome Measures Couples’ interpersonal behavior, wound healing, and local and systemic changes in proinflammatory cytokine production were assessed during each research unit admission. Results Couples’ blister wounds healed more slowly and local cytokine production (IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α, and IL-1β) was lower at wound sites following marital conflicts than after social support interactions. Couples who demonstrated consistently higher levels of hostile behaviors across both their interactions healed at 60% of the rate of low-hostile couples. High-hostile couples also produced relatively larger increases in plasma IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor α values the morning after a conflict than after a social support interaction compared with low-hostile couples. Conclusions These data provide further mechanistic evidence of the sensitivity of wound healing to everyday stressors. Moreover, more frequent and amplified increases in proinflammatory cytokine levels could accelerate a range of age-related diseases. Thus, these data also provide a window on the pathways through which hostile or abrasive relationships affect physiological functioning and health.