Just sixteen subjects? I'd be curious to check out the actual research and their statistical data--seems like it's too small a study to make a generalization like that.

Well, this is stupid.

Yes, I feel more at ease if I'm anxious and my boyfriend comforts me. I also feel better when my mother gives me a hug. Maybe they'll do a study on how motherly love is all I need to reduce stress. And shockingly, it goes the other way. My boyfriend feels better when I comfort him too! Imagine that.

However, all of those effects are only temporary. If these women are stressed about something like a lack of money, hand-holding isn't going to make money magically appear. The bills are all still there.

I also love that they used a fucking wedding picture. It's just part of society's focus on the wedding day, and ignorance of the actual lifetime commitment of marriage.

I feel less stressed when I cuddle my cat. Maybe they should be advocating cat (or pet) ownership instead of marriage. Way cheaper, for one thing.

Haven't there been other studies (with much larger samplings) that suggest women find marriage more stressful than being single (maybe on account of them trying to work 40 hours a week and still find time to take care of the kids, cook meals and keep the house clean)? Or at least studies that show that married men live longer lives, but married women live shorter ones?

Where's my cat? I think I need a cuddle...

People have done these studies with pet ownership as the independent variable.

They never seem to look at the effect on the husband, though. I do like them singling out "good marriages."

Because there are all of those people out there saying "I'm going to go build a horrible marriage with someone." Though that'd be the beginning of a Liz Phair song.

AHAHAHAHAHA

"A new study has found that all women need to lower their stress levels is a strong and happy marriage."

Oh is that all? Well good -- we know how easy those are to come by!!

When I saw a piece on this on the news this morning they did mention that they intend to do the same study with men too.

What a stupid headline though. The "best" stress-busters? What exactly did they compare it to?

Ah, but Vervain, that plays into what I said. Holding your husband's hand might be comforting for a few minutes, but eventually you have to let go, and then the bills are still there, the kids still need to be taken care of, the food still needs to be cooked, the house still needs to be cleaned... it's just a temporary effect, although happy marriages are probably the ones where one partner doesn't feel like they're doing all the work.

In the long term, however, the actual root causes of the stress are what need to be treated. Saying that having a good marriage solves everything is ridiculous. I have an awesome relationship with my boyfriend, and he does make me feel better a lot of the time, but I'm still clinically depressed. Him loving and supporting me just can't serve as a substitute for me loving and supporting myself.

prarielily -
I hear you. Your comment was dead on as far as I'm concerned.
As for mine, I wasn't actually advocating cat ownership as a cure for stress; it was purely facetious--an appropriate reflection on this "study," I think, since this sort of pseudoscience is a joke.

They need to come to Texas and interview my friends since practically all of them call me once a day to bitch about their husbands.

And what the hell is a high-quality marriage? How do you judge that?

This seems like bs to me, but I'm a bit cynical today.

Well, I may be in the minority here, but if the study were done on men, my first thought would probably be, "Oh, great, another study to show that women are responsible for men's emotional well-being." So I actually find it sort of encouraging that the subjects were women.

Vervain, you were just joking about the cat?!

I should probably return the fluffy kitty I stole from my neighbour to cure my stress, then, huh?

(I just finished finals and currently have nothing to do.)

I can't read the article for some reason- but is it saying that a good marriage will cure your problems, or is it saying that a good marriage will help control stress? The former is ridiculous, the later is definitely a "no duh" kind of statement. It would seem to me that any kind of stable, healthy relationship with someone you love is going to work towards controlling stress. It may not solve all of your problems, but it's going to help keep stress in check, whether it's a marriage, a patnership, a boyfriend, girlfriend, or just a friend you really care about.
I mean, imagine that- having someone to comfort you when you're upset helps control stress!
*gasp*

Of course I feel better when anxous holding my husbands hand... and I feel the same way when comforted by my girlfriends, family members, etc. I think it is better said that having emotional support calms nerves!

What about the days when the husband is the cause of all the stress? There are times I'd rather introduce him to the cold steel of a pistol (not that I own one, yet) between his eyes than hold his hand (especially when he gets all chauvanistic).
I find this incredibly ridiculous. Would a high quality marriage be considered when he makes all of the money and she doesn't have to do a thing but cook, clean, and cater to him and the kids? Oh that's not stressful. Honey hold my hand because I can't get Jr to go to sleep and he's stressing me out.
Then she has to deal with being ignored all the time because you know he has to put in a lot of hours at the office. Honey, hold my hand to let me know that you love me and not your secretary.
So I agree, I think a strong supportive relationship of any type would help make anyone feel better when they're stressing. Of course, we could always suggest doing what an article in an old Play Girl magazine said when they did a 'study.' And that was, get a good whiff of your lover's armpit because the pheromones will help calm you down.
Insanity. My destressor is a sleeping baby in his bed, and me in a hot bubble bath with candles and Radiohead music. Yea, the bills will be there when I get out of the tub, but atleast I had a break and can face them with energy.

Mandevilla - thank you thank you - it's good to know someone else finds marriage (and work, and kids) this stressful.

Did I miss something in the study. Wouldn't this work if I held anybody's hand? Why does it have to be my husband? I held hands with a baby monkey once. Maybe we should all get one of those (that was a joke - I am not advocating monkey smuggling - I like the way that sounds though....)

Haven't found the actual study yet (I just saw this article), but I doubt the purpose was to show that marriage is good. It's more likely a study on "healing touch," which is well known anecdotally, but not a lot of neurological evidence has been found. It's the same idea that makes pediatricians have parents hold their baby when they're getting a vaccination.

And why are you going to China Daily for news on medical research performed in the US?

Bearcat raises an important point. You really must distinguish between the scientific study and the new article that is reporting on it. The handholding exercise was part of larger study. Calling it "obvious and pointless" seems most unfair. Science has debunked many ideas we used to think were obvious. In this case it didn't, that doesn't mean it's stupid.

None of this is new and none of this is gender specific. A strong marriage is the best protection men have against stress as well.