Relationship stress undermines health through behavioral, psychosocial, and physiological pathways. For example, stress in relationships contributes to poor health habits in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (Kassel et al. 2003). Stress contributes to psychological distress and physiological arousal (e.g., increased heart rate and blood pressure) that can damage health through cumulative wear and tear on physiological systems, and by leading people of all ages to engage in unhealthy behaviors (e.g., food consumption, heavy drinking, smoking) in an effort to cope with stress and reduce unpleasant arousal (Kassel, Stroud, and Paronis 2003). The propensity to engage in particular risky health behaviors in response to stress appears to vary over the life course. For example, stress is associated with more alcohol consumption in young adulthood and greater weight gain in mid-life (Umberson et al. 2010). Relationship stress also undermines a sense of personal control and mental health, both of which are, in turn, associated with poorer physical health (Mirowsky and Ross 2003).
