AA:I'mAviArdittiwithRosanneSkirble, andthisweekonWORDMASTER: howthewordsthatcouplesusewhentheyfightcouldaffecttheirhealth.

RS:Inanewstudy, forty-twomarriedcouplesmadetwoovernightvisitstoalaboratorytodiscusstheirbiggestareasofdisagreement. Researchersdrewbloodbeforeandafterthesessionstolookatlevelsofproteinsknownaspro-inflammatorycytokines. Thesemoleculeshelpfightoffinfections, buttheirlevelscanalsorisewithpsychologicalstress.

AA:Andthereisevidencethatalotofstresscanunbalancetheimmunesystemandputusatriskofdisease. ThestudytookplaceatOhioStateUniversity, butJenniferGrahamfromPennStateanalyzedthedata.

JenniferGraham

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"SoIlookedatthesetranscriptsofwhatpeopleactuallysaid. AndIfocusedonwordsthatarerelatedtoinsightandreasoning. Theuseofthesetypesofwordswhendescribingstressandyourreactionstostress, hasbeenassociatedwithpositivementalandphysicalhealthoutcomes.

"AndsoIfoundthat, infact, theindividualswhousedthemostwordsindicativeofcognitiveprocessing-- andthesearewordslikethink, reason, because, why; thingslikethat-- thatthoseindividualsactuallyshowedlowerpro-inflammatorycytokineincreasesoverthetwenty-fourhourperiodthatweobservedthem. Andtheyactuallyhadlowerlevelsatthattwenty-fourhourtimeperiodaswell. Sosmallerincreasesandalsolowerabsolutelevels."

AA:"Firstofall, werethereanydifferencesbetweenthehusbandsandwivesinwhowouldusemoreofthesesortofthoughtfulwords, versusmorehostilewords?"

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"Yeah, thereweresomeinterestinggenderdifferences. Menandwomenusedanequalamountofwordsoverall, whichIthinkisimportant, butwomenusedmoreofthecognitiveprocessingwords. And, infact, women'scognitiveworduseactuallypredictedtheirhusband's, atleastoneofthecytokine'schangeovertime. Andthenthespousalaveragecognitivewordusepredictedhusbands'cytokinepatternsovertime. Butthemen'scognitivewordusedidnotpredictawoman's."

AA:"Sowhatdoesthatmean, inplainEnglish, whatdoesthatmean?"

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"Idothinkit'sinteresting, Ithinkitmayreflectthefactthatwomenseemtobemorelikelyinoursocietytospendtimethinkingaboutthesetypesofconflicts, andmayberesolvingthemintheirmindsmoreoften, doingmoreofthatruminationaboutsomeoftheseconflicts. Andsoperhaps[they] arealreadysortofalittlefartheralongdownthatprocess, perhaps, andthereforemaybemoreabletoinfluencehusbands'bytheirworduse."

RS:"Wheredoyouhopetogowiththisdata? Andwhatarethenextstepsforyou?"

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"WhatIthinkthisshowsisthatthissortofprocessofmakingmeaningfromstress, thatwe'resortofseeingreflectedinthisword-usepattern, isreallyimportantforpeople. Youknow, it'simpossibletoavoidstressors, butifyouhavetodealwiththem, findingwaystosortofincorporatethemintoyourworldviewandmakesenseofthem, andalsobeabletoarticulatethatclearlytoanother, isreallyimportant. AndIwouldlovetodoastudydowntheroadwhereI'mactuallyabletotrytomanipulatethatinsortofaninterventionkindofdesign, andthenactuallylooktoseetheeffectsofthatmanipulation."

AA:"Sowhenyou'retalkingaboutthesewordslikethink, because, reason, why-- Imean, thisis, let'ssaythewoman, thewife, saying'Thereasonwhy--

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"Exactly. 'ThereasonwhyI'mmadisbecause... '

AA:'-- youbugmesomuchisthereasonwhyI'mmad.'"

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"ButIknowyou'reinterestedinwords, andIthinkit'sfascinatingthatyoucouldusethatsamewordinanegativeway, right? Youcouldsay'IwanttotellyouwhyIhateyousomuch.'Oryoucouldbemeanwiththosewords."

AA:"Butthat'snotwhatyoufound, youfoundthatthelevelsinthebloodofthesestress-relatedproteinstendedtogodownthemoreofthesecameupinthecon-- "

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"Thosewordswereused, that'sright."

RS:"Sowhatadvicewouldyouhaveforboth[married] couplesandperhapsourlistenerswhospeakEnglishasa[foreignlanguage] "

JENNIFERGRAHAM:"Iwouldjustsay, whenyoudofindyourselffighting, whenpossibleitreallyisaverypowerfulthingifyoucanfindthewordstobereallyclear, notjustabouthowyoufeel, butwhy. Andbeingabletoarticulatethatinawaythattheotherpersoncanunderstandmaynotonlyhelpyourrelationshipbutpossiblybenefityourhealthaswell."

AA:JenniferGrahamisanassistantprofessoratPennStateUniversity. HerfindingsappearinthejournalHealthPsychology.

RS:Andthat'sWORDMASTERforthisweek. Archivesareatvoanews.com/wordmaster. WithAviArditti, I'mRosanneSkirble.