ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2021
The gut reaction to couples' relationship troubles: A route to gut dysbiosis through changes in depressive symptoms.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Depressive symptoms at short-, medium-, and long-term follow-up after bariatric surgical procedures: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- 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) · 2026Article
- The role of gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.Gut microbes reports · 2026Review
- Gut microbiota in anxiety and depression: mechanisms, drug interactions, and therapeutic implications.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Leaky Gut Biomarkers as Predictors of Depression and Suicidal Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Critical Review of the Cross-Links Between Dietary Components, the Gut Microbiome, and Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Couples in breast cancer survivorship: Daily associations in relationship satisfaction, stress, and health.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- The post-Cartesian dilemma: Reuniting the mind and body through psychoneuroimmunology.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Couples-based health behavior change interventions: A relationship science perspective on the unique opportunities and challenges to improve dyadic health.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- A social science: Using psychoneuroimmunology principles to promote career longevity, productivity, and meaning.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Moving toward affective immunology: Legacy and future directions.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Turning stress into success: A festschrift in honor of Janice Kiecolt-Glaser.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Human Gut Microbiota for Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Gut Microbiome-Brain Alliance: A Landscape View into Mental and Gastrointestinal Health and Disorders.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2023Review
- Gut Microbiota in Anxiety and Depression: Unveiling the Relationships and Management Options.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Mechanistic Insights into the Link between Gut Dysbiosis and Major Depression: An Extensive Review.Cells · 2022Review
- The gut connection: Intestinal permeability as a pathway from breast cancer survivors' relationship satisfaction to inflammation across treatment.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2022Article
- Stressor-Induced Reduction in Cognitive Behavior is Associated with Impaired Colonic Mucus Layer Integrity and is Dependent Upon the LPS-Binding Protein Receptor CD14.Journal of inflammation research · 2022Article
- Earth Dreams: Reimagining ARPA for Health of People, Places and Planet.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The health consequences of stress in couples: A review and new integrated Dyadic Biobehavioral Stress Model.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The gut microbiota plays a role in a wide range of diseases and disorders, with low microbial diversity and richness emerging as notable risk factors. This longitudinal study addressed the impact of marital quality (assessed by the Couples Satisfaction Index) on changes in depressive symptoms, and gut diversity, richness, and permeability. On two occasions an average of 90 days apart, 162 people provided stool and blood samples, and completed questionnaires. Depressive symptoms, assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), increased from visit 1 to visit 2 in those with clinically significant relationship problems, in contrast to the lack of change among their more satisfied counterparts. These changes in depression were consequential: the gut microbiota's diversity and richness decreased in tandem with the increase in depressive symptoms. Lower relationship satisfaction also foreshadowed increases in lipopolysaccharide binding protein from visit 1 to visit 2, reflecting greater translocation of bacterial endotoxin from the gut to blood circulation, a process that fuels inflammation. Lower diversity and richness provide a pathway from depressive symptoms and marital distress to subsequent health risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.