Thoughts after marital conflict and punch biopsy wounds: Age-graded pathways to healing.

ABSTRACT: Thoughts and emotions following marital conflict have received little attention but almost certainly contribute to marriage's long-term health effects. Consistent with emotion theories of aging, we expected the effects of post-conflict thoughts on important neuroendocrine and immune outcomes, cortisol levels and full-thickness wound healing, to differ by age. An age-diverse sample of married couples received a punch biopsy wound and discussed a marital problem, then privately recorded their thoughts and rated their mood. Salivary cortisol was sampled throughout the day, and wound healing was measured for 32days. Older adults reported more positive mood post-conflict than younger adults. Thoughts with more positive emotional content related to lower subsequent cortisol levels. Only older ad

SUBMITTER: Wilson SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6555483 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature