Do you yell with rage or silently get irate?

Are you prone to fits of rage, outbursts in the midst of an argument with your significant other?

Or are you type to keep a stiff upper lip, and brood, getting silently irate?

While it may be something you have never contemplated, experts say how a person reacts in the middle of a row, can indicate the health problems they will suffer.

Those who rage with frustration during a martial spat are more prone to increased blood pressure, while those who stay quiet but fume on the inside, are leaving themselves at risk of back pain. 

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A new study has shown that those who erupt in fits of rage during a marital argument are more likely to suffer increased blood pressure, chest pain and heart problems over time

Psychologist Dr Robert Levenson, senior author of the study from the University of California, Berkeley, said: ‘Our findings reveal a new level of precision in how emotions are linked to health, and how our behaviors over time can predict the development of negative health outcomes.’ 

The study, published in the journal Emotion, is based on 20 years of data, analyzing married, heterosexual couples.

Researchers took into account age, education, exercise, smoking, alcohol use and caffeine consumption.

Overall, they found the link between emotions and health outcomes was more pronounced for men, but that many of the findings also applied to wives.

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Dr Claudia Haase, an assistant professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University, and lead author, said: ‘We looked at marital conflict conversations that lasted just 15 minutes and could predict the development of health problems over 20 years for husbands based on the emotional behaviors that they showed during these 15 minutes.’

The findings could spur hotheaded people to consider such interventions as anger management, while people who withdraw during conflict might benefit from resisting the impulse to bottle up their emotions, the researchers said.

Dr Hasse said: ‘Conflict happens in every marriage, but people deal with it in different ways. 

‘Some of us explode with anger; some of us shut down. 

‘Our study shows that these different emotional behaviors can predict the development of different health problems in the long run.’

 Psychologist Dr Robert Levenson, senior author of the study from the University of California, Berkeley, said: ‘Our findings reveal a new level of precision in how emotions are linked to health, and how our behaviors over time can predict the development of negative health outcomes’

The study is one of several by Dr Levenson, who focuses on the inner workings of long-term marriages.

Participants are part of a cohort of 156 middle-aged and older heterosexual couples in the San Francisco Bay Area whose relationships Dr Levenson and fellow researchers have tracked since 1989.

The surviving spouses who participated in the study are now in their 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s.

Each five years, the couples were videotaped in a laboratory setting as they discussed events in their lives and areas of disagreement and enjoyment.

Their interactions were rated by expert behavioral coders for a wide range of emotions and behaviors based on facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. 

Those who stay quiet but fume on the inside, are leaving themselves at risk of back pain.

In addition, the spouses completed a battery of questionnaires that included a detailed assessment of specific health problems.

In this latest study, the researchers focused on the health consequences of anger and an emotion-suppressing behavior they refer to as ‘stonewalling’.

The study also looked at sadness and fear as predictors of these health outcomes, but did not find any significant associations.

‘Our findings suggest particular emotions expressed in a relationship predict vulnerability to particular health problems, and those emotions are anger and stonewalling,’ Dr Levenson said.

To track displays of anger, the researchers monitored the videotaped conversations for such behaviors as lips pressed together, knitted brows, voices raised or lowered beyond their normal tone and tight jaws.

To identify stonewalling behavior, they looked for what researchers refer to as ‘away’ behavior, which includes facial stiffness, rigid neck muscles, and little or no eye contact. 

That data was then linked to health symptoms, measured every five years over a 20-year span.

The spouses who were observed during their conversations to fly off the handle more easily were at greater risk of developing chest pain, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems over time.

Alternately, those who stonewalled by barely speaking and avoiding eye contact were more likely to develop backaches, stiff necks or joints and general muscle tension.

Dr Levenson said: ‘For years, we’ve known that negative emotions are associated with negative health outcomes, but this study dug deeper to find that specific emotions are linked to specific health problems. 

‘This is one of the many ways that our emotions provide a window for glimpsing important qualities of our future lives.’