A large study involving over 100,000 people across seven countries has found that people who are not married may face a much higher risk of depression compared to those who are married.
Specifically, the study suggests that unmarried people are around 80% more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who are married.
The research was published in Nature Human Behaviour and explored data from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, China, and South Korea.
Depression is a widespread mental health condition, affecting about 5% of adults globally. It causes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in daily activities, and it can impact a person’s ability to function in everyday life.
This study highlights the connection between marital status and mental health, particularly depression. Past research has hinted that marriage might help reduce the risk of depression, but most of these studies have focused on individual countries, usually in the West.
This new study is one of the first to take a global perspective on how marriage and mental health are related.
The researchers, led by Kefeng Li, looked at information from 106,556 individuals from diverse backgrounds. Participants came from a range of countries with different social and cultural norms, including the US, UK, Mexico, Ireland, South Korea, China, and Indonesia.
They examined data from over a decade for about 20,865 individuals to see how depressive symptoms might change over time for married and unmarried people.
The findings showed that unmarried people face a notably higher risk of depression compared to married individuals.
In particular, the study found that being divorced or separated was linked to a nearly 100% higher risk of depressive symptoms, and being widowed came with a 64% higher risk, compared to people who are married.
Among all unmarried people, those living in Western countries, like the US and UK, were more likely to experience depression than those in Eastern countries like China and South Korea.
The researchers also found that unmarried men had a higher likelihood of depressive symptoms than unmarried women.
Additionally, individuals with higher education seemed more at risk than those with less education, suggesting that the impact of not being married might feel stronger among men and those with more educational achievements.
While the study does not explain exactly why marriage may help lower the risk of depression, the authors offer some possible reasons. They suggest that people in a marriage may benefit from each other’s support, both emotionally and financially.
Married couples may also have access to shared resources and might encourage each other to stay healthy, both mentally and physically.
When challenges arise, married individuals may have a built-in support system that helps them cope better, while unmarried people might not have the same level of support in their everyday lives.
Although the study provides important insights, it does have some limitations. The data relied on self-reported questionnaires, which can differ from clinical diagnoses, meaning it focused on symptoms rather than medically confirmed cases of depression.
Additionally, the study only included heterosexual couples, so the findings may not fully apply to same-sex couples or other relationship types.
The findings of this study offer a new perspective on the role of marriage in mental health and could help identify people who are more likely to face depression based on their marital status and other factors.
This research may encourage health professionals and support systems to consider marital status as one of the elements in understanding and addressing depression.
If you care about depression, please read studies that vegetarian diet may increase your depression risk, and Vitamin D could help reduce depression symptoms.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that ultra-processed foods may make you feel depressed, and these antioxidants could help reduce the risk of dementia.
The research findings can be found in Nature Human Behaviour.
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