How health behaviors link romantic relationship dysfunction and physical health across 20 years for middle-aged and older adults

Diet and exercise are mechanisms linking marital dysfunction and health across 20 years because they may be linked to the emotional influence and not functional influence of the marriage context. According to the BBFM, diet and exercise may be part of the mediating construct of the model (i.e., biobehavioral reactivity), which explains how emotional stress from a marriage may produce declines in physical health over time. Implications for biopsychosocial healthcare interventions are discussed.