An unhappy marriage is certainly unpleasant for the participants, but did you know that having an unsupportive spouse could kill you? That revelation is one discovered by researchers at the University of Utah, who found that an unhappy marriage literally could break your heart. Specifically, the study found a link between spouses who reported their partners were "sometimes supportive but sometimes upsetting" and heart disease. When it's perceived that a partner's support is "ambivalent," the level of coronary artery calcification is high. Calcified arteries mean thicker artery walls, which means blood can't pass as easily through them. This puts people at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. The researchers surveyed 136 older couples – with a median age of 63 – to rate their perceived levels of support from their spouses.
They asked how helpful or how upsetting spouses were in times when they needed a favor, support or advice. Those who viewed their partners as ambivalent – sometimes supportive, sometimes ambivalent -- amounted to 70 percent of respondents. Next, researchers used a CT scan to measure artery calcification levels, and in those couples who both viewed each other as ambivalent, levels were highest. The risk was significantly less when just one partner felt that way. Couples surveyed were married for an average of 36 years, and overall marital satisfaction didn't seem to have an effect on the results. "The findings suggest that couples who have more ambivalent views of each other actively interact or process relationship information in ways that increase their stress or undermine the supportive potential in the relationship," said Dr. Bert Uchino, one of the study's authors. "This, in turn, may influence their cardiovascular disease risk."