Elsevier

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Volume 38, Issue 12, December 2013, Pages 2905-2913
Psychoneuroendocrinology

Sex-specific effects of mindfulness on romantic partners’ cortisol responses to conflict and relations with psychological adjustment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.018Get rights and content

Abstract

Mindfulness is known to improve individuals’ and couples’ subjective stress regulation, but little is known about how it impacts hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis responses to acute psychosocial stress. The current study tested effects of dispositional mindfulness facets on young adult couples’ cortisol responses to a conflict discussion stressor, as well as associations with psychological adjustment. One hundred heterosexual couples completed the five facet mindfulness questionnaire one week before engaging in a conflict discussion task. Each partner provided five saliva samples from pre- to post-conflict, which were assayed for cortisol. Measures of adjustment – depression and anxiety symptoms and global well-being – were also completed at this session. Hierarchical linear modeling of cortisol trajectories revealed sex-specific effects; whereas women's mindfulness (nonreactivity facet) predicted higher conflict stress cortisol levels, men's mindfulness (describing facet) predicted less pronounced cortisol reactivity/recovery curves. These patterns were related to better adjustment—lower depression symptoms for women and greater well-being for men. Implications for sex differences in mindfulness benefits are discussed.

Section snippets

Participants

Heterosexual couples (n = 114) were recruited through an online student research participant pool and community flyers to participate in a two-part study of romantic relationships (see below). To be eligible, participants had to be at least 18 years old (M = 21.31, SD = 6.12) and in a romantic relationship for at least 2 months (M = 2.2 years). The majority of couples (93%) reported that they were in an exclusive committed relationship. On average, partners reported spending 58 h per week together

Analytic strategy

Dyadic growth curve modeling in HLM was used to test effects on cortisol trajectories (see Raudenbush et al., 1995). This approach separates variability into within- and between-couple levels while accounting for the dependency of cortisol scores within individuals and individuals within couples. Level 1 modeled individual male and female partner cortisol trajectories, and Level 2 modeled between-couple differences in these trajectories as a function of predictive variables (i.e., mindfulness

Descriptive analyses

Prior to testing HLM models, correlations between self-reported mindfulness (session 1) and psychological adjustment (session 2) variables were examined. For women, nonreactivity showed the strongest set of associations with adjustment (r = −.45, p < .001 with CES-D, −.29, p = .003 with BAI, and .47, p < .001 with WB), followed by nonjudgment (r = −.32, p = .001 with CES-D, −.22, p = .026 with BAI, and .21, p = .032 with WB). Acting with awareness and describing also related to lower depression symptoms (r = 

Cortisol controls

Variables that might need to be controlled in cortisol analyses were examined. These consisted of medication use (including oral contraceptives for women), sleep the night before, exercise habits, BMI, and typical caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine consumption. Women's cortisol related to allergy and asthma medication, and men's cortisol related to allergy medication and typical nicotine consumption. These variables were controlled for in all subsequent models.

Model tests: Baseline cortisol model

A baseline HLM model containing no predictors was fit to determine average cortisol response parameters and between-participant variability in these parameters. Significant negative quadratic terms confirmed that both men and women tended to display a reactivity/recovery curve (β = −.88, p < .001 for men; β = −.61, p < .001 for women) across the session. Likewise, significant negative linear terms showed that partners tended to be recovering at the conflict stress sample, having peaked earlier during

Model tests: Mindfulness facets related to cortisol

A preliminary model with all five facets predicting men's and women's cortisol trajectories revealed significant associations for the nonreactivity and describing facets only. 2

Model tests: Psychological adjustment related to cortisol

As above, a preliminary model tested associations between partners’ cortisol trajectories and adjustment variables (depression and anxiety symptoms, well-being). Depression symptoms and well-being showed significant effects and were retained in the final model (see Table 2). Symptoms of depression related to lower women's conflict stress cortisol levels (Fig. 4). Well-being related to lower men's conflict stress cortisol levels and a less pronounced reactivity/recovery curve (Fig. 5). Again,

Discussion

The current study demonstrated effects of specific mindfulness facets on young men's and women's cortisol responses to romantic conflict. In turn, these cortisol responses related to partner-specific markers of psychological adjustment. This work offers an objective (neuroendocrine) measure of the benefits of dispositional mindfulness for regulating responses to everyday stressors. At the same time, our findings suggest the nature of mindfulness-stress regulation paths may depend on sex, and

Conflict of interest

In the interest of full disclosure, DAG is founder and Chief Strategy and Scientific Advisor at Salimetrics LLC (State College, PA) and Salivabio LLC (Baltimore, MD). DAG's relationships with these entities are managed by the policies of the Conflict of Interest Committee at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance at Arizona State University. HL, SL, RH, and DE have no conflicts of interest to report.

Contributors

Authors HL and SL designed and carried out the study with the assistance of RH and DE. DG oversaw the salivary assay measures and advised on the use of these data. HL conducted analyses and wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed it and offered feedback prior to submission.

Role of the funding source

The sources of funding for this research did not play a role in the analysis or interpretation of the data. The funders do not have any particular archiving or other requirements.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Faculty Grant-in-Aid from the University of Wyoming and a Basic Research Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming, both awarded to the first two authors.

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