Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23527470›Full record

SynthesisPsychological bulletin2014

Marital quality and health: a meta-analytic review.

Theodore F Robles, Richard B Slatcher, Joseph M Trombello, Meghan M McGinn

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychological bulletin, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 498 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
498citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

498 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Trial
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  10. Relationship intervention moderates the association between substance use and biological aging among Black adults.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025
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  15. How spousal, friend, and family ties predict health: Within- and between-person effects across 16 years.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2026
    Article
  16. Article
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  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Observational

438 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Theodore F RoblesDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Richard B SlatcherDepartment of Psychology, Wayne State University.
Joseph M TrombelloDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Meghan M McGinnMental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Healthcare System.

Funding

PREVENTION RESEARCH TRAINING:URBAN CHILDREN'S MENT HLTHT32MH015750 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI CHRISTINE DUNKEL SCHETTER · 1985 to 2026
$6.2M
Risky Family Environments and Childhood AsthmaR01HL114097 · NHLBI · WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY · PI SLATCHER, RICHARD B, ZILIOLI, SAMUELE · 2011 to 2019
$5.6M
Marriage, Physiology, and Health during the Retirement TransitionR21AG032494 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI ROBLES, THEODORE · 2009 to 2010
$328k
Marital Quality, Physiology, & Health in Older Adults Undergoing Marital TherapyF31AG034718 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI MCGINN, MEGHAN · 2010 to 2011
$44k
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL114097NIA NIH HHS F31 AG034718NIA NIH HHS R21 AG032494NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH015750
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This meta-analysis reviewed 126 published empirical articles over the past 50 years describing associations between marital relationship quality and physical health in more than 72,000 individuals. Health outcomes included clinical endpoints (objective assessments of function, disease severity, and mortality; subjective health assessments) and surrogate endpoints (biological markers that substitute for clinical endpoints, such as blood pressure). Biological mediators included cardiovascular reactivity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Greater marital quality was related to better health, with mean effect sizes from r = .07 to .21, including lower risk of mortality (r = .11) and lower cardiovascular reactivity during marital conflict (r = -.13), but not daily cortisol slopes or cortisol reactivity during conflict. The small effect sizes were similar in magnitude to previously found associations between health behaviors (e.g., diet) and health outcomes. Effect sizes for a small subset of clinical outcomes were susceptible to publication bias. In some studies, effect sizes remained significant after accounting for confounds such as age and socioeconomic status. Studies with a higher proportion of women in the sample demonstrated larger effect sizes, but we found little evidence for gender differences in studies that explicitly tested gender moderation, with the exception of surrogate endpoint studies. Our conclusions are limited by small numbers of studies for specific health outcomes, unexplained heterogeneity, and designs that limit causal inferences. These findings highlight the need to explicitly test affective, health behavior, and biological mechanisms in future research, and focus on moderating factors that may alter the relationship between marital quality and health.

Indexed as

Health StatusInterpersonal RelationsHumansMarriageQuality of Life

Identifiers

PMID23527470
PMCPMC3872512

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.