September 1, 2003Health Psychology178 citations
View Full PaperMarital status and quality in middle-aged women: Associations with levels and trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors.
Structured PICO
Does high relationship satisfaction improve cardiovascular risk factor levels and trajectories in middle-aged women?
P
Population
493 middle-aged women from the Healthy Women Study, during and after the menopausal transition
I
Intervention
Being married or cohabitating with high relationship satisfaction
C
Comparator
Women with moderate or low relationship satisfaction, and women who were single, divorced, or widowed
O
Outcome
Levels and trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors (biological, lifestyle, and psychosocial)surrogate
High marital satisfaction is associated with lower levels and better trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged women.
Abstract
The current study compared cardiovascular risk profiles and trajectories (i.e., within-person changes) of women who were married or cohabitating and who had high relationship satisfaction with those of women with moderate or low satisfaction and with those of women who were single, divorced, and widowed. Participants were 493 women from the Healthy Women Study, a prospective investigation of health during and after the menopausal transition. Risk factors were measured across more than 5 occasions and 13 years, on average. Data were analyzed using a multilevel modeling technique. Overall, women in relationships with high satisfaction had lower levels of biological, lifestyle, and psychosocial risk factors when compared with the other groups. In some cases, women in satisfying marriages also showed a lower risk trajectory on risk factors relative to other women. Hence, marriage appears to confer health benefits for women, but only when marital satisfaction is high.