Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Marital Distress in Employed Women

Abstract

In this investigation, the relationship between marital distress and blood pressure during daily life in a sample of married employed women was examined. It was hypothesized that greater marital distress would be associated with elevated blood pressure in the home environment, but not in the workplace. Participants were 50 married employed women, aged 25 to 45 years. Participants underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring on a typical workday. The women with higher levels of marital distress exhibited greater negative emotions and higher levels of blood pressure at home. These results suggest that the physiological concomitants of stress and emotional upset associated with marital distress are manifest in elevated blood pressure that is most pronounced in the home environment.

Index Terms:

• ambulatory blood pressure
• marital distress
• women's health

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert A. Carels

Dr Carets is an assistant professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio; Drs Sherwood and Blumenthal are at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, where Dr Sherwood is an associate professor of medical psychology and Dr Blumenthal is a professor of medical psychology; Dr Szczepanski is a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco.