Spouses' Cardiovascular Reactivity to Their Partners' Suffering

A laboratory study of older adults with osteoarthritis and their spouses was conducted to examine the unique influence of exposure to suffering on caregivers' risk for impaired psychological and physical health. Spouses' blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during 2 tasks designed to capture their partners' suffering. First, spouses watched their partners (and a stranger) carry heavy logs across an 8-ft space for 3 min, a task that elicited pain expression. Second, spouses spoke about their partners' suffering (and also about a typical meal with their partners). Results showed that spouses' BP and HR increased when watching and talking about their partners' suffering, and exposure to a partner's suffering was more physiologically stressful than to a stranger's suffering. These findings suggest that heightened physiological stress caused by exposure to a loved one's suffering may be one pathway to caregivers' increased risk for cardiovascular disease.