Doing it all: Effects of Family Responsibilities and Marital Relationship Quality on Mothers' Ambulatory Blood Pressure.

BACKGROUND: The shared provider responsibility between married couples does not translate to equally shared division of childcare (CC) and household labor. While some marriages contain highly positive aspects, marriages may also simultaneously contain both positive and negative aspects. The negativity in these relationships can negate the positivity and could potentially lead to the detriment of mothers' health. PURPOSE: We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks. METHODS: We investigate these associations using a mixed multilevel model analysis on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages, all of whom had children under the age of 18 years currently living in the home. RESULTS: Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships (low negativity and high positivity) had lower ABP than those in ambivalent relationships (both high negativity and positivity). There was a crossover interaction such that the effect of relationship quality on ABP was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of CC. For mothers who report doing all the CC, they had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. Whereas mothers who report more equity in CC and have a supportive relationship have higher ABP compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. CONCLUSIONS: This study has implications related to dynamics within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important relational influences on mothers' ABP.

Married mothers disproportionately shoulder the responsibilities of childcare (CC) and household labor. This inequity of the division of family responsibilities can negatively affect the relationship between husbands and wives with marital satisfaction being higher when the load is more equally shared between partners. Additionally, marital satisfaction is associated with numerous health benefits including lower blood pressure. We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages. Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships had lower ABP than those reporting less supportive relationships. There was an interaction between the perception of equity in the division of CC and the effect that relationship quality had on mothers' ABP. Mothers who reported doing all the CC had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in less supportive relationships. Whereas mothers who reported more equity in CC and had a supportive relationship had higher ABP compared with mothers in less supportive relationships.

Social Support: The Effect on Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping.

Social support has long been associated with cardiovascular disease risk assessed with blood pressure (BP). BP exhibits a circadian rhythm in which BP should dip between 10 and 15% overnight. Blunted nocturnal dipping (non-dipping) is a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality independent of clinical BP and is a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than either daytime or nighttime BP. However, it is often examined in hypertensive individuals and less often in normotensive individuals. Those under age 50 are at increased risk for having lower social support. This study examined social support and nocturnal dipping in normotensive individuals under age 50 using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABP). ABP was collected in 179 participants throughout a 24-h period. Participants completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, which assesses perceived levels of social support in one's network. Participants with low levels of social support demonstrated blunted dipping. This effect was moderated by sex, with women showing greater benefit from their social support. These findings demonstrate the impact social support can have on cardiovascular health, exhibited through blunted dipping, and are particularly important as the study was conducted in normotensive individuals who are less likely to have high levels of social support.

COVID-19 lockdown: Impact on college students' lives.

Objective: In light of COVID-19, leaders issued stay-at-home orders, including closure of higher-education schools. Most students left campus, likely impacting their employment and social network. Leaders are making decisions about opening universities and modality of instruction. Understanding students' psychological, physiological, academic, and financial responses to the shut-down and reopening of campuses can help leaders make informed decisions. Participants: 654 students from a large western university enrolled during the pandemic shutdown. Methods: Students were invited via email to complete an online survey. Results: Students reported stress, depression, loneliness, lack of motivation, difficulty focusing on schoolwork, restless sleep, appetite changes, job loss concerns, and difficulties coping. Most wanted to return to campus and felt social/physical distancing was effective but were mixed in terms of testing or masks. Conclusions: Moving to remote learning created physical and psychological stress. Students want to return to campus but do not want to take risk-reducing measures.

In an era of uncertainty: Impact of COVID-19 on dental education.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic arguably represents the worst public health crisis of the 21st century. However, no empirical study currently exists in the literature that examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental education. This study evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on dental education and dental students' experience. METHODS: An anonymous online survey was administrated to professional dental students that focused on their experiences related to COVID-19. The survey included questions about student demographics, protocols for school reopening and student perceptions of institutional responses, student concerns, and psychological impacts. RESULTS: Among the 145 respondents, 92.4% were pre-doctoral dental students and 7.6% were orthodontic residents; 48.2% were female and 12.6% students lived alone during the school closure due to the pandemic. Students' age ranged from 23 to 39 years. Younger students expressed more concerns about their emotional health (P = 0.01). In terms of the school's overall response to COVID-19, 73.1% students thought it was effective. The majority (83%) of students believed that social distancing in school can minimize the development of COVID-19. In general, students felt that clinical education suffered after transitioning to online but responded more positively about adjustments to other online curricular components. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted dental education. Our findings indicate that students are experiencing increased levels of stress and feel their clinical education has suffered. Most students appear comfortable with technology adaptations for didactic curriculum and favor masks, social distancing, and liberal use of sanitizers.

Health Effects of Late-Career Unemployment.

Objective: Job loss has a demonstrated negative impact on physical and mental health. Involuntary retirement has also been linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This study examined whether late-career unemployment is related to involuntary retirement and health declines postretirement. Method: Analysis was conducted using the 2000-2012 U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) survey data with unemployment months regressed with demographic and baseline health measures on physical and mental health. Results: Individuals with late-career unemployment reported more involuntary retirement timing (47.0%) compared with those reporting no unemployment (27.9%). Late-career unemployment had no significant effect on self-reported physical health (ß = .003, p = .84), but was significantly associated with lower levels of mental health (ß = .039; p < .01). Conclusion: Self-reports of late-career unemployment are not associated with physical health in retirement, but unemployment is associated with involuntary retirement timing and mental health declines in retirement. Unemployment late in the working career should be addressed as a public mental health concern.

Ambivalence in the Early Years of Marriage: Impact on Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Relationship Processes.

BACKGROUND: Marriage is associated with lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, but quality matters. Marriages characterized by ambivalent behaviors (containing both highly positive and highly negative behaviors concurrently) may not confer the same cardiovascular benefits as characterized by purely positive behavior. Ambivalence is assumed to take time to develop but couples in the early years of marriage may already exhibit ambivalent behaviors and thus be at increased risk for future cardiovascular events. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of spouse and own ambivalent behavior, the impact on interpersonal (i.e., responsiveness, disclosure, affective interactions) processes, and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in individuals in the early years of marriage. METHODS: In 84 young married couples, objective and subjective ambivalence, interpersonal functioning, and ABP over a 24-hr period were assessed. RESULTS: As predicted, ambivalence developed early in marriage. Regarding interpersonal processes, spousal and own objective ambivalent behavior was associated with lower spousal responsiveness (p < .01), disclosure (p < .05), and more negative (p < .03) and less positive interactions (p < .001). Physiologically, ambivalent spousal behavior was associated with higher systolic blood pressure (p = .02) and higher diastolic blood pressure (p = .04). Measures of subjective ambivalence were congruent. CONCLUSIONS: Early marriages already contain ambivalent behavior; in such cases, individuals may not receive the cardiovascular protection of a supportive marriage.