A Social Psychological Perspective on the Links between Close Relationships and Health.

The association between the quality of people's close relationships and their physical health is well-established. But from a psychological perspective, do close relationships impact physical health? This article summarizes recent work seeking to identify the relationship processes, psychological mediators and moderators of the links between close relationships and health, with an emphasis on studies of married and cohabitating couples. We begin with a brief review of a recent meta-analysis of the links between marital quality and health. We then describe our model of marriage and health, homing in on one process--and one moderator--to illustrate ways in which basic relationship science can inform our understanding of how relationships impact physical health. We conclude with a brief discussion of promising directions in the study of close relationships and health.