05/30/2019 / By Zoey Sky
Chronic stress negatively affects your physical and mental health. But an interesting study conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU) reveals one natural way to help manage your stress levels: spending more time with your significant other.
In the study, published in the journal PLOSOne, the researchers used an infrared camera to examine the fascinating link between marriage and stress in BYU psychology professor Wendy Birmingham’s lab.
The researchers worked with 40 couples who were instructed to complete an intentionally challenging task on a computer. The scientists randomly assigned some of the couples to work alone. The other participants were allowed to work while sitting near their spouse and holding their hand.
As the participants tried to accomplish the task, the researchers used the infrared camera to measure pupil diameter for the duration of the test. Pupil diameter is “a direct signal of the body’s physiological stress response.”
Steven Luke, a study co-author who is also a psychology professor at BYU, explained that the pupils respond “within 200 milliseconds to the onset of a stressor.” Pupils can immediately reveal how you react to stress, and if having social support from a loved one can influence the stress response. Luke added that this extraordinary technique works on “a different time scale.”
The researchers reported that the experiment initially stressed-out volunteers in both groups.
However, the participants in the spouse support group calmed down significantly sooner.