Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Attachment Avoidance Predicts Inflammatory Responses To Marital Conflict, Jean-Phillipe Gouin, Ronald Glaser, Timothy J. Loving, William B. Malarkey, Jeffrey R. Stowell, Carrie Houts, Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser

Jeffrey R. Stowell

Marital stress has been associated with immune dysregulation, including increased production of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Attachment style, one’s expectations about the availability and responsiveness of others in intimate relationships, appears to influence physiological stress reactivity and thus could influence inflammatory responses to marital conflict. Thirty-five couples were invited for two 24-hour admissions to a hospital research unit. The first visit included a structured social support interaction, while the second visit comprised the discussion of a marital disagreement. A mixed effect within-subject repeated measure model indicated that attachment avoidance significantly influenced IL-6 production during the conflict visit but not during the social …