Emotional arousal predicts observed social support in German and American couples talking about XXXX .

@entity1 @entity5 @entity0
Social support in couples often occurs during conversations and is an important predictor of positive outcomes in @entity1 with @entity0 . Even though talking about @entity5 may be upsetting, vocally expressed emotional arousal and its association with social support have not been examined. The goal of this study was to examine the role of vocally encoded emotional arousal and social support behaviors in 129 German and American couples, assessed at baseline of clinical trials for @entity1 with @entity0 and their male partners. Range of fundamental frequency was used as a measure of expressed emotional arousal during videotaped interactions in which the @entity1 shared @entity5 -related concerns. Social support behaviors were assessed as specific social support behaviors at the talk-turn level (positive, neutral, and negative) and broader communication behaviors also relevant to social support at the global level (depth and articulation, caring, quality of communication) using the Social Support Interaction Coding System (Bradbury _ Pasch, 1994). Data were analyzed using actor-partner interdependence models. @entity1 displayed more positive, fewer neutral support-receiving behaviors, and greater depth and articulation if their own emotional arousal was higher. @entity1 also displayed more neutral and (at the trend level) fewer positive support-receiving behaviors if their partners' emotional arousal was higher. @entity1 's behaviors were not associated with their own or @entity1 's emotional arousal. Results indicate that it may be adaptive for @entity1 with @entity5 to openly experience their distress during social support conversations with their partners; high emotional arousal of the partners may interfere with this process.
