Coronary heart disease: Intervention for intimate relationship issues Original Research Article

Given that coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, continuing research on reduction of incidence as well as recovery from a cardiac event is critical. There are multiple risk factors for the development of, and recovery from, a cardiac event, including both physical (e.g., high cholesterol) and psychosocial (e.g., depression, social support). For a number of years the role of social support has been a focus of research, with the conclusion that social support is an important aspect of both the prevention of CHD as well as recovery from a cardiac event. An intimate relationship is obviously a potentially crucial source of social support, and thus the role of an intimate relationship in preventing or aiding in recovery from a cardiac event is explored in the current paper. Clearly there are a number of ways in which an intimate relationship can aid in the recovery of cardiac patients (e.g., emotional support, support for quilling smoking, starting or maintaining exercise program, treatment adherence). In addition, it is likely that a discordant intimate relationship may hinder the recovery of cardiac patients (e.g., social isolation, high conflict, etc.). Thus, interventions for cardiac patients that are focused on couple functioning are likely to be quite useful, both in terms of helping the relationship serve as a source of support, as well as in assuring that the relationship does not serve as an additional source of stress. Specific treatment recommendations are made for cardiac patient interventions that are couple focused.