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Studies linking measures of marital satisfaction with health outcomes have yielded variable results. Recognizing that real-life marital relationships are often characterized by perceptions of one's spouse as both helpful and upsetting (i.e., ambivalence), investigators examined spouses' ratings of social relationship and marital adjustment and used standard scans to assess coronary artery calcification.
The 136 couples were married for a mean of 36 years (97% non-Hispanic white; mean age, 63; median household income, $50,000–$75,000); none had cardiovascular disease histories. Overall, 30% of spouses were viewed as primarily positive, and 70% were viewed ambivalently.
Studied variables included gender, age, body mass, blood glucose, plasma li…