Effects of different kinds of couple interaction on cortisol and heart rate responses to stress in women

Influence of a "warm touch" support enhancement intervention among married couples on ambulatory blood pressure, oxytocin, alpha amylase, and cortisol

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether a support intervention (warm touch enhancement) influences physiological stress systems that are linked to important health outcomes. Growing evidence points to a protective effect of social and emotional support on both morbidity and mortality.

METHODS

In this study, 34 healthy married couples (n = 68), aged 20 to 39 years (mean = 25.2 years), were randomly assigned to a "behavior monitoring" control group or participated in a 4-week intervention study in which clinic levels of plasma oxytocin, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure, and salivary cortisol and alpha amylase were obtained pre and post intervention, at the same time salivary oxytocin was taken at home during weeks 1 and 4.

RESULTS

Salivary oxytocin was enhanced both early and late in the intervention group and alpha amylase was reduced at post treatment in intervention group husbands and wives relative to controls. Husbands in the intervention group had significantly lower post treatment 24-hour systolic blood pressure than the control group.

CONCLUSION

Increasing warm touch among couples has a beneficial influence on multiple stress-sensitive systems.

The science of interpersonal touch: an overview

Surprisingly little scientific research has been conducted on the topic of interpersonal touch over the years, despite the importance of touch in our everyday social interactions from birth through to adulthood and old age. In this review, we critically evaluate the results of the research on this topic that have emerged from disciplines, such as cognitive and social psychology, neuroscience, and cultural anthropology. We highlight some of the most important advances to have been made in our understanding of this topic: For example, research has shown that interpersonal tactile stimulation provides an effective means of influencing people's social behaviors (such as modulating their tendency to comply with requests, in affecting people's attitudes toward specific services, in creating bonds between couples or groups, and in strengthening romantic relationships), regardless of whether or not the tactile contact itself can be remembered explicitly. What is more, interpersonal touch can be used to communicate emotion in a manner similar to that demonstrated previously in vision and audition. The recent growth of studies investigating the potential introduction of tactile sensations to long-distance communication technologies (by means of mediated or 'virtual' touch) are also reviewed briefly. Finally, we highlight the synergistic effort that will be needed by researchers in different disciplines if we are to develop a more complete understanding of interpersonal touch in the years to come.

Positive couple interactions and daily cortisol: on the stress-protecting role of intimacy

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether intimacy might be associated with reduced daily salivary cortisol levels in couples, thereby adding to the epidemiologic literature on reduced health burden in happy couples.

METHODS

A total of 51 dual-earner couples reported time spent on intimacy, stated their current affect quality, and provided saliva samples for cortisol estimation approximately every 3 hours in a 1-week time-sampling assessment. In addition, participants provided data on chronic problems of work organization.

RESULTS

Multilevel analyses revealed that intimacy was significantly associated with reduced daily salivary cortisol levels. There was an interaction effect of intimacy with chronic problems of work organization in terms of their relationship with cortisol levels, suggesting a buffering effect of intimacy on work-related elevated cortisol levels. Above this, the association between intimacy and cortisol was mediated by positive affect. Intimacy and affect together explained 7% of daily salivary cortisol variance.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results are in line with previous studies on the effect of intimacy on cortisol stress responses in the laboratory as well as with epidemiologic data on health beneficial effects of happy marital relationships.

Adult attachment and social support interact to reduce psychological but not cortisol responses to stress

OBJECTIVE

Adult attachment has been suggested to mediate the effect of social support on stress protection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of adult attachment and social support on psychological and endocrine responses to psychosocial stress.

METHODS

Sixty-three healthy men who were married or cohabiting were randomly assigned to receive either instructed social support from their partner or no social support before being exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test). Attachment was determined using the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire. State anxiety, mood, and salivary cortisol levels were repeatedly assessed before and after stress.

RESULTS

Secure attachment was associated with stronger decreases in state anxiety levels following stress exposure. More importantly, the combination of social support and secure attachment exhibited the lowest anxiety levels after stress (interaction effect). Social support alone reduced cortisol responses to stress, whereas secure attachment did not influence cortisol concentrations.

CONCLUSION

This first study on the interaction of adult attachment and social support in terms of psychological and endocrine stress responses concurs with previous studies suggesting an important protective role of attachment for psychological stress responsiveness. However, attachment did not directly moderate cortisol responses to acute stress.

Psychobiologische Mechanismen sozialer Unterstützung

Zusammenfassung. Epidemiologische Studien können eindrucksvoll nachweisen, dass Personen, die in stabile soziale Netzwerke eingebunden sind, zufriedener, gesünder und auch länger leben als sozial isolierte Personen. Einerseits wird vermutet, dass dieser gesundheitsfördernde Effekt sozialer Unterstützung durch Verhaltensänderungen vermittelt wird, welche auf nahestehende Personen zurückführbar sind. Auf der anderen Seite wird ein direkter protektiver Effekt sozialer Unterstützung auf die körperliche Stressreaktivität angenommen, der unterschiedliche salutogenetische Wirkungen haben könnte. Die möglichen vermittelnden biologischen Mechanismen dieses Effekts werden zunehmend in Labor- und Feldstudien untersucht. In diesem Artikel geben wir einen Überblick über die Ergebnisse psychobiologischer Untersuchungen zu den Einflüssen sozialer Unterstützung auf der Ebene des Herz-Kreislauf-Systems, des endokrinen Systems und des Immunsystems. Abschließend gehen wir auf erste Studien ein, in denen die zentralnervösen Mechanismen sozialer Unterstützung experimentell untersucht wurden, und fassen die Ergebnisse in einem Modell zusammen.