When couples’ hearts beat together: Synchrony in heart rate variability during conflict predicts heightened inflammation throughout the day

Abstract

Hostile conflict in marriage can increase risks for disease and mortality. Physiological synchrony between partners-e.g., the linkage between their autonomic fluctuations-appears to capture engagement, or an inability to disengage from an exchange, and thus may amplify the health risks of noxious interactions such as marital conflict. Prior work has not examined the unique health correlates of this physiological signature. To test associations between couples' heart rate variability (HRV) synchrony during conflict and inflammation, 43 married couples engaged in a marital problem discussion while wearing heart monitors and provided four blood samples; they repeated this protocol at a second visit. When couples' moment-to-moment HRV changes tracked more closely together during conflict, they had higher levels of three inflammatory markers (i.e., IL-6, stimulated TNF-α, and sVCAM-1) across the day. Stronger HRV synchrony during conflict also predicted greater negative affect reactivity. Synchrony varied within couples, and was related to situational factors rather than global relationship traits. These data highlight partners' HRV linkage during conflict as a novel social-biological pathway to inflammation-related disease.

Exploring Physiological Linkage in Same-Sex Male Couples

“…As such PL may provide a more sensitive measure than self-reports for interpersonal processes that are not readily accessible to awareness for many people ( Butler and Randall, 2013 ). Third, associations have been found between PL and mental and physical health ( Butler, 2017 ; Wilson et al, 2018 ), suggesting that if we had a better understanding of PLs, it may offer novel interpersonal interventions.…”

Toward a social psychophysiology of vagally mediated heart rate variability: Concepts and methods in self‐regulation, emotion, and interpersonal processes

“…For example, as noted above, moderate initial vagal withdrawal followed by robust recovery may be an optimal profile. Associations between interacting partners' changing levels of vmHRV are an emerging research focus (e.g., Helm, Sbarra, & Ferrer, 2014;Wilson et al, 2018), quantified to index the degree of synchrony (i.e., concurrent changes) or co-regulation (i.e., lagged associations in which one partner's fluctuating vmHRV predicts the other partner's responses). Such associations are potentially important, but the processes that produce them and the outcomes they predict likely depend on the contexts in which they occur (e.g., conflict discussions vs. warm interactions).…”

Stress Reactivity: What Pushes Us Higher, Faster, and Longer—and Why It Matters

“…While partners interact, their stress levels can also synchronize such that their reactivity rises and falls together, thus impacting both partners’ psychological and biological responses. For instance, one study showed that when couples’ cardiovascular reactivity synchronized during a marital disagreement, both partners had greater negative affect reactivity and higher inflammation (Wilson et al, 2018). Lastly, couples regulate each other’s emotional responses to stress (Butler, 2015).…”