Concerns about Relationships May Raise Vulnerability to Illness

Whereas it is generally considered to be normal to have transient concerns about one’s close relationships, a high level of anxiety – known as “attachment anxiety,” where people worry constantly about many of their relationships – may lower immunity and increased vulnerability to illness. Lisa Jaremka, from Ohio State University (Ohio, USA), and colleagues tested the health effects of attachment anxiety among 85 couples, average age 39 years, who had been married for an average of more than 12 years. The participants completed a standardized survey regarding relationships, and reported general anxiety symptoms as well as the quality. Researchers collect the saliva samples and blood samples. Subjects with higher attachment anxiety produced, on average, 11% more cortisol than those with lower attachment anxiety. The more anxiously attached participants also had between 11 and 22% fewer T-cells then less anxiously attached subjects. The study investigators submit that the combined findings are likely related, because cortisol exerts immunosuppressive effects – including the inhibition of T-cell production. The study authors write that: “The current study also extends attachment theory in an important new direction by demonstrating the utility of a psychoneuroimmunological approach to the study of attachment anxiety, stress, and health.”