MY theory is that where women have a need to self-silence it is because the man is abusive or controlling and there are many areas in her life where she does not feel safe. Silence seems safer than speaking and does not cause immediate backlash. It is the stress of the entire situation that causes a variety of physical problems.
In a perfect world, women would be able to leave an abusive or controlling spouse, but in reality there are many reasons that women feel stuck in these situations. Many times this type of partner undermines a woman’s confidence so that even if she is able to leave, she is not confident enough to do so.
And this is apparently not factored into this study which leads me to question it’s validity.