Participants were 20-68 years old, with an average age of 31. Most of the singles - 89 percent - had never been married and none was living with a partner. Married participants had been married for eight years, on average.
The researchers from Brigham Young University's psychology department found that happily married people had the best blood pressure while the singles ranked second. The unhappily married had the worst blood pressure of those three groups.
The results are a surprise because prior studies have shown that married people tend to be healthier than singles. Other factors affecting the blood pressure include diet, exercise, smoking and stress - also affect blood pressure.
Blood pressure refers to the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs.
The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as blood moves through arteries, arterioles, capillaries and veins; the term blood pressure generally refers to arterial pressure, i.e., the pressure in the larger arteries, arteries being the blood vessels that take blood away from the heart.
The study is titled "Is There Something Unique about Marriage? The Relative Impact of Marital Status, Relationship Quality and Network Social Support on Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Mental Health."
