It's Not All Wedded Bliss: Marital Stress May Cause Depression in Couples

It's not all over after the wedding. It turns out that marital bliss may be harder to come by than thought. Researchers have found that marital stress make people more vulnerable to depression.

Married people in general are happier and healthier than single people, according to numerous studies. Yet marriage can also be one of the most significant sources of long-lasting social stress. In order to get a better sense of how people cope with marriage, the researchers recruited married adult participants and had them complete questionnaires, rating their stress on a six-point scale. The scientists then asked the volunteers questions in order to find out their feelings. This was then repeated about nine years later.

So what did they find? Study participants who reported higher marital stress showed more symptoms of depression.

"This is not an obvious consequence, if you will, of marital stress, but it's one I think is extraordinarily important because of the cascade of changes that may be associated," said Richard Davidson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This is the signature of an emotional style that reveals vulnerability to depression."

The findings may researchers better understand the mechanisms that make people more prone to depression and other emotional disturbance. This, in turn, could allow researchers better treat these individuals.

"To paraphrase the bumper sticker: 'Stress happens,'" said Davidson in a news release. "There is no such thing as leading a life completely buffered  from the slings and arrows of everyday life."

The findings are published in the Journal of Psychophysiology.