Oct 09 2007
Unhappiness & Heart Disease
Interesting piece of research from the Archives of Internal Medicine which analysed the association between negative aspects of close relationships and whether this had an impact statistically on increased risk for coronary heart disease as well as examining whether the association is strongersamong women and people of lower social position. In layman’s terms - does unhappiness cause heart disease.
To cut to the chase: the answer is yes.
After making adjustments for sociodemographic characteristics, biological factors, and other dimensions of social support, the “individuals who experienced negative aspects of close relationships had a higher risk of incident coronary events (hazard ratio, 1.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.63).”
The association was attenuated but remained statistically significant after additional adjustment for conditions of negative affectivity and depression. Although women and men in a lower employment grade were more likely to be exposed to negative aspects of close relationships, sex and social position had no statistically significant interaction effects. Confiding/emotional and practical support were not associated with incident coronary events.
This is pretty interesting as it is a 12 year study rather than a short snapshot and lends more weight to the hypothesis of positive psychology that happiness is also a health issue.
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