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Lack of Support Can Kill Spouses
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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."
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