A post from Ms. Setrakian on this blog on 3 October 2007 pointed out that aspects of a marriage have a seemingly direct impact on the health of women. A study just published suggests that it is not just the health of women that is impacted by a bad marriage. Bad marriages, bad friendships, difficult relationships with relatives, they all seem to have negative health consequences.

A study reported in the October 8th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine followed 9,011 British civil servants. All were asked to report on up to four close personal relationships, most (64%) reported on their marriage. Those who had the most difficulty in their close relationships (lack of practical support, talking made them feel agitated) were 34 percent more likely to have heart attacks, or other heart conditions, during the 12 years of follow-up than those who reported feeling very positive about their close relationships. The negative effect was the same if the close relationship was with a spouse, a close relative or even a close friend.

Previous research has shown that there are health problems associated with being single or having few close relationships. This research suggests that it is just not as simple as having relationships. Rather the quality of the close relationships seems to be a crucial factor in impacting health. If remains to be seen if relationships that cause aggravation and stress do in fact cause more negative health consequences than do no relationships at all.