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When was the last time you heard a psychologist tell a couple they’re giving each other cancer? Well, you might begin to hear this in the near future. Recent research has found that improved communication within couples lowers the amount of cancer causing proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).

Proinflammatory cytokines are proteins which, the nervous system secretes due to physiological (illness) or psychological stress (Graham, et al., 2009, Kendall-Tackett, 2009). Stress can dysregulate the immune function and cause an overabundance of proinflammatory cytokines. An excessive amount of these substances have been linked with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain syndromes, premature aging, Alzheimer’s disease, impaired wound healing, impaired immune function, and cancer (Kendall-Tackett, 2009). In addition to physiological diseases, increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines have also been found in individuals with PTSD, depression, and individuals who have experienced adverse childhood and/or adult psychological trauma (Kendall-Tackett, 2009).

In 2009, Social and Health Psychologist, Jennifer E. Graham, and along with a team of six other researchers conducted a study on 42 heterosexual married couples. Graham hypothesized that married couples that utilized more cognitive words would have lower levels of IL-6 and TNF-α cytokines than couples who utilized fewer cognitive words. Cognitive words are terms that indicate causal reasoning (e.g., because, why), insight (e.g., think, realize), and other words related to thinking (e.g., should, ought). Previous research found that married couples who demonstrated hostile or negative behavior during a monitored discussion showed increased levels of IL-6 and TBF- α cytokines (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2005). In support of Grahams reasoning for the study, she states that “it is widely believed that people who use more cognitive processing words in emotional expression are more likely to resolve their difficult experiences and feelings (Graham, et al., p. 622, 2009),” and therefore, benefit physiologically. Participants were observed during two separate visits. At each visit the couples had blood drawn twice, 24 hours apart, to record the amount of proinflammatory cytokines in their body. After the first draw (baseline) participants were asked to engage in a non-conflictive marital discussion followed by a second blood draw exactly 24 hours after the baseline blood draw. The second visit, approximately two months later, followed the same protocol as the first visit except that the couple was asked to engage in a conflictual marital discussion. The topic of the conflict discussion was judged by the interviewer to be the most conflict-producing topic based on an interview with the couple and participant’s self-report of the relationship. Measurement of cognitive words were done with the use the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software (LIWC) that uses a dictionary of 2,290 words and word stems to generate percentages of words across linguistic categories (Graham, et al., 2009). The investigators looked at words related and categorized as casual reasoning and insight. They found that individuals who used cognitive processing words in the discussion with their partner showed significantly reduced cytokine responses. Participants who used less cognitive words were observed with the highest levels of IL-6 when measured post-conflict. As expected, individuals who used more cognitive words were observed with decreased levels of IL-6 when measured post-conflict (Graham, et al., 2009). These results suggest that the act of cognitive immersion in a marital discussion had an anti-inflammatory effect (Graham, et al., 2009). As therapists, we can use this research to empirically support the mental and physiological benefits of improved communication strategies within couples.

Sources: Graham, J.E., Glaser, R., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Loving, T.J., Malarkey, W.B., Stowell, J.R. (2009). Cognitive word use during marital conflict and increases in proinflammatory cytokines. Health Psychology, 28, 621-630.

Kendall-Tackett, K. (2009). Psychological trauma and physical health: A psychoneuroimmunology approach to etiology of negative health effects and possible interventions. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 1(1), 35-48.

Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Loving, T.J., Malarkey, W.B., Stowell, J.R., Lemeshow, S., Dickinson, S.L., et al. (2005). Hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production, and wound healting. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 1377-1384.

Author: Kathryn Jordan, St. Joseph's College