Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:15:00 GMT

The positives of a happy married life

Long-term committed relationships are good for mental as well as physical health and this benefit increases over time, suggests a study.

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David and John Gallacher from Cardiff University say that on average married people live longer.

They say that women in committed relationships have better mental health, while men in committed relationships have better physical health, and they conclude that, "on balance it probably is worth making the effort."

Men's physical health probably improves because of their partner's positive influence on their lifestyle and "the mental bonus for women may be due to a greater emphasis on the importance of the relationship", they write.

But the journey of true love does not always run smoothly, maintain the authors, pointing to evidence that relationships in adolescence are associated with increased adolescent depressive symptoms.

(Continued)

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