Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Association Between Husbands' and Wives' Depressive Symptoms Among Korean Older Adults: The Moderating Effects of the Spousal Relationship
Abstract Purpose: The mutual effects of depressive symptoms between couples have long been reported; however, it remains unknown whether the spousal concordance of depression differs depending on spousal relationships.Method: Data on 291 married couples from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) were examined. The KSHAP collected global network data from the target population living in one Korean village over eight years and across five waves. A seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model in the panel data was employed to address correlation and heterogeneity.Results: If one spouse (husband or wife) had depressive symptoms, the other spouse tended to have depressive symptoms. However, the effect of marital relations on spousal concordance for depression was different in husbands and wives. This study demonstrated both spousal support aspects and spousal network aspects of spousal relationships. Depression concordance was more substantial for couples with a more negative marital relationship. A supportive marital relationship mitigated the impact of a husband's depression on his wife's depression but did not work in the opposite case. Spousal network overlap decreased the effect of a wife's depression on her husband's depression, but rather directly increased a wife's depression and failed to mediate the impact of a husband's depression on his wife's depression. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that approaches to helping older adults deal with mental health disorders should proceed not only on an individual but on a couple-level. Also, gender-specific strategies need to be constructed to enhance the mental well-being of the older population.