Marital cohesion and ambulatory blood pressure in early hypertension

One hundred thirty-four men and seventy-one women, unmedicated mild hypertensives, underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring: (ABP) and completed standardized questionnaires measuring; marital and job stress. Of these, 44.8% had daytime diastolic BP less-than 90 mm Hg; 96.1% had left ventricular mass index in the normal range (N = 176). Lower marital cohesion (Cohesion, subscale of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale) was related to elevated nighttime ABP (P less-than-or-equal-to .05) and 24-h diastolic BP (P less-than .05). With low Cohesion (N = 83), more reported spousal contact was associated with elevated nighttime ABP (P less-than .031). The 7.3% of subjects with very low Cohesion demonstrated approximately 6 mm Hg elevation of all ABP variables, controlling for other significant variables (P less-than .05, except for nighttime SBP). This study shows an association between marital cohesion and ABP and suggests that marital factors may have a role in sustaining BP in early hypertension. Am J Hypertens 1999;12:227-230 (C) 1999 American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd.