Family conflict ‘harms health more than stormy romance’

♦ A strained relationship with a parent or child is worse for health than a rocky romantic partnership, a study suggests.

A US survey of more than 2,800 middle-aged people found that those with difficult family relationships had between 0.5 and one more chronic illness at the 20-year follow-up than those with happy connections. But there were no major effects of intimate partner relationships on health outcomes.

“Family emotional climate had a big effect,” said report lead author Dr Sarah Woods, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre. The study was published in the Journal of Family Psychology.