Relationship Functioning and Gut Microbiota Composition among Older Adult Couples

Qiwen Cheng, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, John K. DiBaise, Juan Maldonado, M. Aaron Guest, Michael Todd and Shelby L. Langer ()
Additional contact information
Qiwen Cheng: Biodesign Center for Health through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown: Biodesign Center for Health through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
John K. DiBaise: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA
Juan Maldonado: Knowledge Enterprise Genomics Core, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
M. Aaron Guest: Center for Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Michael Todd: Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Shelby L. Langer: Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: An emerging area of research extends work on couple functioning and physical health to gut health, a critical marker of general health and known to diminish with age. As a foray into this area, we conducted a pilot study to (1) determine the feasibility of remote data collection, including a fecal sample, from older adult couples, (2) examine within-couple concordance in gut microbiota composition, and (3) examine associations between relationship functioning and gut microbiota composition. Couples (N = 30) were recruited from the community. The participants’ demographic characteristics were as follows: M (SD) age = 66.6 (4.8), 53% female, 92% White, and 2% Hispanic. Two of the couples were same-sex. All 60 participants completed self-report measures and supplied a fecal sample for microbiome analysis. Microbial DNA was extracted from the samples, and the 16S rRNA gene V4 region was amplified and sequenced. The results indicated that individuals shared more similar gut microbial composition with their partners than with others in the sample, p < 0.0001. In addition, individuals with better relationship quality (greater relationship satisfaction and intimacy and less avoidant communication) had greater microbial diversity, p < 0.05, a sign of healthier gut microbiota. Further research with a larger and more diverse sample is warranted to elucidate mechanisms.

Keywords: couples; relationship satisfaction; intimacy; gut microbiome; gut microbial diversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5435/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5435/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5435-:d:1118253

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().