Matters of the variable heart: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia response to marital interaction and associations with marital quality
Abstract
Maintenance of relationship quality requires self-regulation of emotion and social behavior, and women often display greater effort in this regard than do men. Furthermore, such efforts can deplete the limited capacity for self-regulation. In recent models of self-regulation, resting level of respiratory sinus arrhythmia, quantified as high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), is an indicator of self-regulatory capacity, whereas transient increases in HF-HRV reflect self-regulatory effort. To test these hypotheses in marriage, 114 young couples completed measures of marital quality and a positive, neutral, or negative initial marital task, preceded and followed by resting baseline assessments of HF-HRV. Couples then discussed a current marital disagreement. Resting HF-HRV was correlated with marital quality, suggesting that capacity for self-regulation is associated with adaptive functioning in close relationships. For women but not men, the negative initial task produced a decrease in resting HF-HRV. This effect was mediated by the husbands' negative affect response to the task and their ratings of wives as controlling and directive. When the subsequent disagreement discussion followed the negative initial task, women displayed increased HF-HRV during the discussion but a decrease when it followed the neutral or positive task. The valence of the initial task had no effect on men's HF-HRV during disagreement. Negative marital interactions can reduce women's resting HF-H…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Women experience greater adverse health impacts from strained partner relationships than men.
“and in general, women experience greater adverse health impacts from strained partner relationships than men (Smith et al., 2011).”
From Grandparent Caregiving and Epigenetic Aging among Midlife and Older Adults in the United States (2026) · cites this paper as Smith et al., 2011
Cites
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348 · Cited by 11,929 · see citing works
A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.7.1.83 · Cited by 9,406 · see citing works
High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success
Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x · Cited by 6,557 · see citing works
Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle?
Muraven, M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.247 · Cited by 4,510 · see citing works
Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats
BERNTSON, G. G., THOMAS BIGGER, J., ECKBERG, D. L., GROSSMAN, P., KAUFMANN, P. G., MALIK, M., NAGARAJA, H. N., PORGES, S. W., SAUL, J. P., STONE, P. H., et al. (1997) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02140.x · Cited by 3,962 · see citing works
Porges, S. W. (2007) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009 · Cited by 3,415 · see citing works
Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study
Schulz, R., & Beach, S. R. (1999) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.282.23.2215 · Cited by 3,340 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, relational self-regulation may be relevant to the emotional or physical health effects of parenting stress or caregiving (Schulz & Beach, 1999).”
BackgroundA model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation and dysregulation
Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2000) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00338-4 · Cited by 3,092 · see citing works
Self-citationHeart rate variability as an index of regulated emotional responding
Appelhans, B. M., & Luecken, L. J. (2006) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.10.3.229 · Cited by 1,893 · see citing works
Thayer, J. F., Hansen, A. L., Saus-Rose, E., & Johnsen, B. H. (2009) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12160-009-9101-z · Cited by 1,872 · see citing works
Self-citationThe polyvagal theory: phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system.
Porges, S. W. (2001) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/s0167-8760(01)00162-3 · Cited by 1,582 · see citing works
The role of vagal function in the risk for cardiovascular disease and mortality
Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2007) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.11.013 · Cited by 1,033 · see citing works
Self-citationBaumeister, R. F., Gailliot, M., DeWall, C. N., & Oaten, M. (2006) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00428.x · Cited by 910 · see citing works
Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., & Ciarocco, N. J. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.632 · Cited by 859 · see citing works
Chida, Y., & Steptoe, A. (2010) · Hypertension · doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.109.146621 · Cited by 787 · see citing works
Psychosomatics and psychopathology: looking up and down from the brain
Thayer, J. F., & Brosschot, J. F. (2005) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.04.014 · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Self-citationA classification of controlled interpersonal affect regulation strategies.
Niven, K., Totterdell, P., & Holman, D. (2009) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0015962 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Methodological issues in the quantification of respiratory sinus arrhythmia.
Denver, J. W., Reed, S. F., & Porges, S. W. (2007) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.09.005 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Eaker, E. D., Sullivan, L. M., Kelly-Hayes, M., D’Agostino, R. B., & Benjamin, E. J. (2007) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e3180f62357 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Heart rate and heart rate variability changes in the intracarotid sodium amobarbital test
Ahern, G. L., Sollers, J. J., Lane, R. D., Labiner, D. M., Herring, A. M., Weinand, M. E., Hutzler, R., & Thayer, J. F. (2001) · Epilepsia · doi:10.1046/j.1528-1157.2001.042007912.x · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Love, marriage, and divorce: Newlyweds' stress hormones foreshadow relationship changes
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Bane, C., Glaser, R., & Malarkey, W. B. (2003) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.71.1.176 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Evidence-based approaches to assessing couple distress.
Snyder, D. K., Heyman, R. E., & Haynes, S. N. (2005) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.17.3.288 · Cited by 135 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Reciprocity of negative behavior during disagreement is a hallmark of marital dysfunction (Fincham & Beach, 1999; Snyder et al., 2005), perhaps reflecting diminished self-regulatory capacity as frequent and prolonged efforts to navigate difficulties deplete this limited resource and leave couples…”
BackgroundResting respiratory sinus arrhythmia buffers against rejection sensitivity via emotion control
Gyurak, A., & Ayduk, Ö. (2008) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.8.4.458 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Thayer, J. F., Åhs, F., Fredrikson, M., Sollers, J. J., & Wager, T. D. (2012) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.11.009 · Cited by 3,224 · see citing works
Self-citationMccraty, R., & Shaffer, F. (2015) · Global Advances in Health and Medicine · doi:10.7453/gahmj.2014.073 · Cited by 1,039 · see citing works
Desbordes, G., Gard, T., Hoge, E. A., Hölzel, B. K., Kerr, C., Lazar, S. W., Olendzki, A., & Vago, D. R. (2015) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0269-8 · Cited by 505 · see citing works
Cardiac vagal tone is associated with social engagement and self-regulation
Geisler, F. C. M., Kubiak, T., Siewert, K., & Weber, H. (2013) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.02.013 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Cardiac vagal control as a marker of emotion regulation in healthy adults: a review
Balzarotti, S., Biassoni, F., Colombo, B., & Ciceri, M. R. (2017) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.10.008 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Di Bello, M., Carnevali, L., Petrocchi, N., Thayer, J. F., Gilbert, P., & Ottaviani, C. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.06.016 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Self-citationPark, G., Vasey, M. W., Van Bavel, J. J., & Thayer, J. F. (2014) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.12186 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Self-citationKemp, A. H., Koenig, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2017) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.09.006 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Amole, M. C., Cyranowski, J. M., Wright, A. G. C., & Swartz, H. A. (2017) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.22595 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Watford, T. S., & Stafford, J. (2015) · Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice · doi:10.1037/cns0000039 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
May the best joint-actions win: Physiological linkage during competition.
Vanutelli, M. E., Gatti, L., Angioletti, L., & Balconi, M. (2018) · Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback · doi:10.1007/s10484-018-9402-8 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Balconi, M., Allegretta, R. A., & Angioletti, L. (2023) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2023.1200750 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Gouin, J.-P., Pournajafi-Nazarloo, H., & Carter, C. S. (2015) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.11.021 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Grandparent Caregiving and Epigenetic Aging among Midlife and Older Adults in the United States
Bhat, A. C., Trexberg, K. M., Apsley, A. T., Almeida, D. M., & Shalev, I. (2026) · The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaf255 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…psychosocial stressors and biological outcomes, including epigenetic aging, these novel clocks offer insight into how caregiving stress may get “under the skin” to influence aging among those already vulnerable to age-related biological decline (Epel et al., 2018; Smith et al., 2008, 2011, 2018).”
- Authors
- Smith, T. W., Cribbet, M. R., Nealey-Moore, J. B., Uchino, B. N., Williams, P. G., MacKenzie, J., & Thayer, J. F.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- University of Puget Sound (US)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 100
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 103-119
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2001431665
- Cited by
- 213
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 6.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Sound Ideas (University of Puget Sound) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate variability, self-regulation, marital quality, marital interaction, marital conflict, gender differences, emotion regulation, relationship quality, negative affect, couples
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arrhythmia, Sinus, Electrocardiography, Emotions, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Marriage, Personality Inventory, Psychological Tests, Sex Factors, Social Control, Informal, Spouses, Family Conflict
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
