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Ambulatory Blood Pressure Response to Romantic Partner Interactions and Long-Term Cardiovascular Health Outcomes
Talea Cornelius1, Jeffrey L Birk, Donald Edmondson
1From the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health (Cornelius, Birk, Edmondson, Schwartz), Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York; and Applied Behavioral Medicine Research Institute (Schwartz), Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York.
Insights
Lower diastolic blood pressure (BP) during partner interactions is linked to better long-term cardiovascular health. This suggests relationship dynamics influence heart health by affecting momentary BP responses.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Relationship Science
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Romantic relationships are associated with improved long-term cardiovascular health.
- The physiological mechanisms, particularly blood pressure (BP) responses during interactions, remain underexplored.
- Understanding momentary BP fluctuations can offer insights into relationship-cardiac health links.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) responses to partner interactions affect long-term cardiovascular health.
- To investigate the association between momentary BP changes during partner interactions and changes in left ventricular mass index and mean BP over time.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of 538 married adults (mean age 46.9 years) with baseline BP ≤160/105 mm Hg.
- Utilized 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, echocardiograms, and questionnaires at two time points, approximately 6.2 years apart.
- Employed multilevel structural equation models to analyze associations between ABP responses and cardiovascular outcomes.
Main Results:
- Lower diastolic ABP during partner interactions predicted a smaller increase in systolic BP over time.
- Lower diastolic ABP during partner interactions also predicted a smaller increase in diastolic BP over time.
- Systolic ABP response did not predict cardiovascular outcomes, and diastolic ABP response did not predict left ventricular mass index changes.
Conclusions:
- Momentary diastolic ambulatory BP response to partner interactions may be a key mechanism linking romantic relationships to long-term BP benefits.
- Positive relationship dynamics, reflected in lower diastolic BP during interactions, could offer cardiovascular protection.
- This highlights the importance of physiological responses within relationships for sustained heart health.
Objective:
Lower blood pressure (BP) during romantic partner interactions may underlie the association between romantic relationships and better long-term cardiovascular health. This secondary analysis examined the effect of momentary ambulatory BP (ABP) response to partner interactions on between-person changes in left ventricular mass index and mean systolic and diastolic BP over time.
Methods:
Participants were 538 married, working adults (mean [SD] = 46.9 [8.8] years, 56.7% female) with a screening BP of ≤160/105 mm Hg. Participants completed questionnaires, 24-hour ABP monitoring, and an echocardiogram at waves 1 and 2 (mean [SD] = 6.2 [1.0] years later). Associations between ABP response to partner (versus nonpartner) interactions and cardiovascular outcomes were examined using multilevel structural equation models.
Results:
Participants with lower diastolic BP during partner interactions at wave 1 had a lesser increase in systolic BP at wave 2 (B = 1.68, SE = 0.61, p = .006; 9.84 mm Hg differential change in systolic BP for participants at +1/-1 SD diastolic ABP response to partner interactions). Participants with lower diastolic ABP during partner-specific interactions at wave 1 also had a lesser increase in diastolic BP (B = 0.83, SE = 0.42, p = .045; 4.89 mm Hg differential change in diastolic BP at +1/-1 SD). Systolic ABP response to partner-specific interactions did not predict changes in cardiovascular outcomes; diastolic ABP response did not predict changes in left ventricular mass index.
Conclusions:
Momentary diastolic ABP response to partner-specific interactions may function as a mechanism underlying the cardioprotective effect of romantic relationships on long-term BP outcomes.
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