Topic: public speaking - For Women, Marital Distress Means Less Relief From Stress (Science Daily)

That's the suggestion from a new UCLA study that tracked levels of cortisol, a key stress hormone, among 30 Los Angeles married couples involved in one of our age's trickiest juggling acts — raising kids when both parents work full time. However, only happily married women appeared to enjoy this benefit; unhappily married women did not show the exaggerated drop-off in cortisol after a busy day. But they believe that a natural tendency to socially withdraw after a stressful day may help explain why men and happily married women showed the exaggerated decline in cortisol after busier days at work while unhappily married women did not. Past research has looked at the effects of marital satisfaction on cortisol levels, but the CELF study is the first to look at the relationship outside of the laboratory separately in men and women. read more

Tags: women, public speaking, cortisol, study, stress, mdash