MONDAY, June 4, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- Depressed people get more of a psychological boost from marriage than people who aren't depressed, even though depressed people tend to have poorer quality marriages, a U.S. study finds.
In the study, a team at Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus analyzed data on 3,066 single people, aged 55 and younger, who took part in the U.S. National Survey of Families and Households. The OSU researchers identified people who married during a five-year follow-up period and asked them about the quality of their marriages and changes in their psychological health.
People who married and divorced during the five-year period were excluded from the study.
The researchers found that, overall, participants who got married scored an average of about 3.5 points lower on a 12-item depression test (a score of 23 or higher indicated depression) than when they were single.
Depressed participants who married scored an average 7.5 points lower on the depression test than depressed people who remained single. Non-depressed people who got married had a smaller average reduction on the test.
The study appears in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
The psychological improvement occurred in depressed people even though they reported less marital happiness and more marital conflict than non-depressed people who married.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about depression.
