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Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bourassa, KJ; Sbarra, DA; Ruiz, JM; Karciroti, N; Harburg, E
Published in: Psychosomatic medicine
January 2019

Research in psychosomatic medicine includes a long history of studying how responses to anger-provoking situations are associated with health. In the context of a marriage, spouses may differ in their anger-coping response style. Where one person may express anger in response to unfair, aggressive interpersonal interactions, his/her partner may instead suppress anger. Discordant response styles within couples may lead to increased relational conflict, which, in turn, may undermine long-term health. The current study sought to examine the association between spouses' anger-coping response styles and mortality status 32 years later.The present study used data from a subsample of married couples (N = 192) drawn from the Life Change Event Study to create an actor-partner interdependence model.Neither husbands' nor wives' response styles predicted their own or their partners' mortality. Wives' anger-coping response style, however, significantly moderated the association of husbands' response style on mortality risk 32 years later, β = -0.18, -0.35 to -0.01, p = .039. Similarly, husbands' response style significantly moderated the association of wives' response style and their later mortality, β = -0.24, -0.38 to -0.10, p < .001. These effects were such that the greater the mismatch between spouses' anger-coping response style, the greater the risk of early death.For a three-decade follow-up, husbands and wives were at greater risk of early death when their anger-coping response styles differed. Degree of mismatch between spouses' response styles may be an important long-term predictor of spouses' early mortality risk.

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Published In

Psychosomatic medicine

DOI

EISSN

1534-7796

ISSN

0033-3174

Publication Date

January 2019

Volume

81

Issue

1

Start / End Page

26 / 33

Related Subject Headings

  • Spouses
  • Risk
  • Psychiatry
  • Mortality, Premature
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Female
  • Anger
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Bourassa, K. J., Sbarra, D. A., Ruiz, J. M., Karciroti, N., & Harburg, E. (2019). Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0000000000000653
Bourassa, Kyle J., David A. Sbarra, John M. Ruiz, Niko Karciroti, and Ernest Harburg. “Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study.Psychosomatic Medicine 81, no. 1 (January 2019): 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0000000000000653.
Bourassa KJ, Sbarra DA, Ruiz JM, Karciroti N, Harburg E. Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study. Psychosomatic medicine. 2019 Jan;81(1):26–33.
Bourassa, Kyle J., et al. “Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study.Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 81, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 26–33. Epmc, doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000653.
Bourassa KJ, Sbarra DA, Ruiz JM, Karciroti N, Harburg E. Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study. Psychosomatic medicine. 2019 Jan;81(1):26–33.

Published In

Psychosomatic medicine

DOI

EISSN

1534-7796

ISSN

0033-3174

Publication Date

January 2019

Volume

81

Issue

1

Start / End Page

26 / 33

Related Subject Headings

  • Spouses
  • Risk
  • Psychiatry
  • Mortality, Premature
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Female
  • Anger