Marriage beneficial for depressed people

People who are depressed are more likely to benefit from being married than people who are not depressed, new findings suggest.

A study conducted by a team of researchers from Ohio State University in Columbus found that although depressed people experience more marital conflict and less matrimonial harmony, their mood is lifted by virtue of the fact that they are married.

The 3,066 respondents, aged 55 years and under, were tested for depression using a 12-item examination and were initially questioned when they were single. They were then re-questioned five years later about their psychological well-being.

It was found that depressed participants who married within the five-year period scored an average of 7.5 points lower on the depression test than the people who had remained single.

Moreover, the study also reveals that respondents without depression who had married also scored lower on the test.

The research was led by Adrianne Frech and Kristi Williams, PhD, and Ms Frech commented: "Based on previous research, we hypothesized that people who are depressed would have worse marital quality and would therefore experience fewer benefits from marriage, but that is not what we found."