Marital conflict and health: Processes and protective factors

Marital conflict has been identified as a risk factor for poor health in marriage partners and their children. However, the mechanisms through which marital conflict influences health have not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, there is variability in health outcomes associated with marital conflict. The current endeavor proposes that the impact of marital conflict on physical health is due, at least in part, to excessive sympathetic arousal and incorporates the Polyvagal Theory to explain how vagal regulation (an index of parasympathetic regulation) may aggregate or attenuate the risk for poor health outcomes in the context of conflict. Examination of intervening variables, such as vagal regulation, allows for elucidation of the relation between marital conflict and health problems in children and adults. Specifically, this paper proposes that individuals with high vagal regulation will be protected from the impact of marital conflict on physical health by the mitigation of detrimental sympathetic arousal, whereas individuals with low vagal regulation will be more vulnerable to the effects of marital conflict on health. Support for this proposition is provided through the presentation of literature on vagal regulation as a protective factor against negative health outcomes in children exposed to marital conflict. D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.