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Cited by 27Stress Responses and CortisolAttachment and Relationship DynamicsNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Cortisol slopes and conflict: A spouse’s perceived stress matters

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Shrout, M. Rosie, Renna, Megan E., Madison, Annelise A., Jaremka, Lisa M., Fagundes, Christopher P., Malarkey, William B., Kiecolt-Glaser, Janice K.·2020·Psychoneuroendocrinology
DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104839PMC PMC7572803
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Abstract

Background Perceived stress can lead to dysregulated cortisol patterns, including blunted peaks and flatter slopes, which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality risks. Couples' interdependence provides a prime opportunity for partners' stress to disrupt a healthy cortisol pattern. This study examined how individuals' own perceived stress and their partners' perceived stress shape cortisol levels and slopes across the day, as well as how positive and negative behaviors during conflict discussions impact associations between stress and cortisol.Methods Both partners of a married couple (n = 43 couples, 86 individuals) completed a full day in-person visit. Each partner completed the Perceived Stress Scale, and all couples engaged in a 20-min marital problem discussion which was recorded and later coded for positive and negative behaviors using the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (RMICS). Partners also provided five salivary cortisol samples across the day, two samples before the conflict and three after the conflict. The dyadic design and analyses provided a way to account for the interdependent nature of married couples' data, as well as to use the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to assess the mutual influence of spouses' stress on cortisol.Results Individuals with more stressed partners had flatter cortisol slopes than individuals with less stressed partners, who showed steeper and thus healthier declines across the day. Individuals' cortisol levels at the beginning of the day were similar regardless of their partners' perceived stress, but individuals with more stressed partners had higher cortisol levels 30-min, 1 h, and 4 h after the conflict discussion than those with less stressed partners. Couples' behavior during the conflict moderated the relationship between partner perceived stress and average cortisol; when couples used more negative and less positive behaviors, individuals with more stressed partners had higher average cortisol levels than those with less stressed partners.Conclusion On a day couples experienced conflict, having a partner with higher perceived stress is associated with dysregulated cortisol patterns, including higher levels and flatter slopes, but having a partner with lower perceived stress is linked to steeper and thus healthier cortisol declines. A partner's stress was particularly consequential for one's own cortisol when couples used more negative and fewer positive behaviors during a conflict discussion. This research adds to the growing literature on pathways connecting marital interactions to important biorhythms and health.

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  • Physiological attunement could be considered a dynamic biological substrate through which relationships shape, sustain, or impair individual flourishing.

    “Thus, physiological attunement could be considered a dynamic biological substrate through which relationships shape, sustain, or impair individual flourishing (28, 66, 67).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [66]

    The Introduction describes spouses’ cortisol rhythms changing together, and the Discussion links a partner’s stress and conflict behavior to the other spouse’s cortisol patterns on a day of conflict (page numbers unavailable). This supports a possible biological pathway connecting relationships and health, but the study does not establish physiological attunement as a pathway to individual flourishing broadly. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Several investigations reported co-variation in diurnal cortisol rhythms and acute cortisol reactivity during conflict discussions or stress-inducing tasks.

    “with several investigations reporting co-variation in diurnal cortisol rhythms and acute cortisol reactivity during conflict discussions or stress-inducing tasks (e.g., 28, 56, 66).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [66]

    The Introduction reports a prior stress-task study in which couples with more similar cortisol increases were more likely to show cortisol covariation over the following two days. This paper’s own Results link flatter within-day cortisol slopes and higher post-conflict cortisol levels to a spouse’s perceived stress, but do not report a direct association between diurnal rhythms and acute reactivity to the conflict discussion. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Cortisol attunement was sometimes enhanced during conflict or strain, suggesting that couples may "tune in" physiologically in ways that amplify shared stress.

    “Cortisol attunement was sometimes enhanced during conflict or strain, suggesting that couples may “tune in” physiologically in ways that amplify shared stress (60, 66).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [66]

    The Introduction reports prior findings that more dissatisfied spouses’ cortisol slopes were more likely to change in unison. The Discussion reports that a partner’s stress was linked to higher cortisol when couples showed more negative and fewer positive behaviors during conflict. These passages support the idea of physiological links under strain, but this study did not show that cortisol attunement itself increased during conflict. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Synchrony is not inherently positive or negative-it is shaped by context and relational dynamics.

    “Synchrony is not inherently positive or negative—it is shaped by context and relational dynamics (28, 66, 67).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [66]

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Authors
Shrout, M. R., Renna, M. E., Madison, A. A., Jaremka, L. M., Fagundes, C. P., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K.
Affiliations
  • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (US)
  • The Ohio State University (US)
  • University of Delaware (US)
  • Rice University (US)
Corresponding author
Shrout, M. Rosie
ORCID
Venue
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-11
Volume
121
Pages
104839
ISSN
0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104839
PMC
PMC7572803
OpenAlex
W3049575789
Semantic Scholar
cfcb4a2b1206ecccca7575a6c2108184360db6e9
Cited by
27
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4
FWCI
1.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • College of Medicine Office of Research, Ohio State University
  • National Institutes of Health (UL1TR001070, T32 CA229114, K05 CA172296, R21 CA158868)
  • Ohio State University
  • American Cancer Society (121911-PF-12-040-01-CPPB)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
cortisol slope, perceived stress, marital conflict, couples, salivary cortisol, cortisol dysregulation, actor-partner interdependence
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Spouses, Family Conflict

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