Elsevier

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Volume 81, July 2017, Pages 46-51
Psychoneuroendocrinology

Sexual intimacy in couples is associated with longer telomere length

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.03.022Get rights and content

Highlights

  • High-quality relationships are beneficial for physical and mental health.

  • Frequency of sex has also been linked to greater mental and physical health.

  • Sexual intimacy was associated with longer telomere length in whole blood and PBMCs.

  • Sexual intimacy was not associated with granulocyte telomere length and telomerase.

Abstract

High-quality relationships have been shown to be beneficial for physical and mental health. This study examined overall relationship satisfaction and perceived stress as well as daily reports of partner support, partner conflict, and physical intimacy obtained over the course of one week in a sample of 129 high and low stress mothers. Telomere length was examined in whole blood, as well as the two cell subpopulations: peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and granulocytes. Telomerase activity was measured in PBMCs. Analyses revealed no statistically significant associations of telomere length with current relationship satisfaction, daily support or conflict, or perceived stress. In contrast, women who reported any sexual intimacy during the course of the week had significantly longer telomeres measured in whole blood and PBMCs, but not in granulocytes. These relationships held covarying for age, body mass index, perceived stress, the relationship indices, and caregiver status. Sexual intimacy was not significantly related to PBMC telomerase activity. These data provide preliminary data that sexual intimacy is associated with longer telomere length. Future studies investigating these associations are warranted.

Introduction

High-quality intimate relationships are good for health. A recent meta-analysis found that better physical functioning and longevity is present in adults who report greater relationship quality (Robles et al., 2014). Research further suggests that social support from high-quality relationships may be the protective mechanism against mortality (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010). Similarly, frequency of sexual intimacy for individuals in relationships has been linked to greater mental and physical health outcomes, such as more general happiness and greater life satisfaction (Muise et al., 2016), greater heart variability (Costa and Brody, 2012), lower daily somatic symptoms (Stadler et al., 2012), reduced daily diurnal cortisol (Ditzen et al., 2008), and a more robust immune response (Charnetski and Brennan, 2004). However, to date, no studies have examined biomarkers of long-term health status such as telomere length. Telomere length indicates the replicative potential of the immune system and has emerged as a robust marker for risk of diseases of aging (Blackburn et al., 2015).

Telomeres are repeated nucleoprotein sequences (TTAGGG) that provide protection against replication and degradation in DNA material by stabilizing the ends of chromosomes (Chan and Blackburn, 2004). Through normative chronological aging, repeated cellular replication, and/or pervasive exposure to stress, telomere length decreases, producing cellular apoptosis or physiological senescence in the organism (Franceschi et al., 2000). In order to combat these decreases in telomere length, cells produce the enzyme telomerase (Chan and Blackburn, 2004), which maintains the telomere by adding nucleoprotein sequences to telomeres (Blackburn, 2005). Shorter telomere length prospectively predicts early morbidity (Brouilette et al., 2007, Demissie et al., 2006) and mortality (Cawthon et al., 2003).

Social support and positive relationships may slow the rate of telomere attrition; however, this has been rarely studied. Preliminary evidence suggests that higher social support is associated with longer telomere length in a sample of older adults (Carroll et al., 2013). Additionally, ambivalent relationships, characterized by both high positivity and high negativity, have been related to shorter telomere length (Uchino et al., 2012). This may suggest that one way in which lower-quality relationships affect health is through an influence on telomeres. Partner status is also associated with telomere length (Mainous et al., 2011, Yen, 2013). Compared to married/never married individuals, divorced/separated individuals show shorter telomeres, when controlling for sociodemographic and health confounds (Whisman et al., 2016). Lastly, no studies have examined associations between romantic relationships with telomerase activity.

The present study was a preliminary examination to ascertain whether relationship quality indices (satisfaction, weekly interactions) and sexual intimacy were associated with telomere length and telomerase activity in a sample of healthy high and low stress mothers. Based on the previous literature, we hypothesized that greater relationship quality and the presence of sexual intimacy would be associated with longer telomere length and lower telomerase activity.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

The present sample was a subset derived from the Stress, Aging, and Emotions (SAGE) study, which was designed to longitudinally investigate parental stress in women raising children with autism spectrum disorder and women raising neurotypical children. For detailed information on this sample, see Prather et al., 2015. Analyses were performed on 129 heterosexual women who were currently in a relationship (married/partnered) and had available data on telomere length. Study participants were

Results

Table 1 presents demographic information and predictor means and standard deviations for women who participated in the study. Of the 129 participants (aged 28–51; M = 42.26, SD = 4.83), 78.1% were Caucasian, and 88.4% were college-educated. Table 2 displays bivariate correlations between the predictors, covariates, and outcomes. Higher levels of dyadic adjustment were associated with increased positive partner interactions (r = 0.62) and decreased negative partner interactions (r = −0.56). There was a

Discussion

Telomere length tends to be shorter with chronic stress and longer with positive health behaviors. Few studies have examined social relationships and intimacy with telomere length. Here, indices of relationship quality − relationship satisfaction and positive and negative partner interactions − and sexual intimacy were examined for their associations with telomere length and telomerase activity in healthy women. Results showed no significant association between relationship satisfaction and

Acknowledgements

TCDB was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health grantT32MH019391. Support for this study was provided by NIH grantsAG030424 (ESE), HL117727 (ESE), and HL112961 (AAP).

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