Married people are, in general, happier and healthier than single people, according to numerous studies. But marriage can also be one of the most significant sources of long-lasting social stress. It’s not all wedded bliss.
A long term study, part of the National Institute on Aging-funded Midlife in the United States, used married adult volunteers to complete stress questionnaires.
They were asked questions like how often they felt let down by their partners or how frequently their spouses criticised them.
The participants were shown 90 images, a mix of negative, neutral and positive photographs such as a smiling mother-daughter pair.
The electrical activity of the frowning muscle was measured to assess the response.
Measuring how activated or relaxed the muscle becomes and the duration of the response is a reliable way to measure emotional response.
The tests showed those who had reported higher marital stress had shorter-lived responses to positive images, indicating depression.
Now they need to help people change this reduced ability to enjoy positive experiences and to cope with stress.
By understanding the mechanisms that make individuals more prone to depression and other emotional disturbances the research is hoping to find tools — such as meditation — to stop it from happening in the first place.
In addition, how simple interventions can be used to actually change this response and what can be done to learn to cultivate a more resilient emotional style.
