Scientists have found that couples are more likely to have the same mental health conditions than previously thought. This conclusion was reached by an international team of researchers who studied data from more than five million couples in Taiwan, as well as more than a million marriages in Denmark and Sweden. The results are published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour (NHB).
The analysis showed that correlations were observed across nine types of mental disorders and persisted across generations. Moreover, the pattern was consistent across cultures, indicating the global nature of the phenomenon.
The authors note that the similarity of mental states between spouses may increase the prevalence of diseases, influence the development of comorbid diagnoses, and distort estimates of genetic factors. This finding, according to the researchers, is important to consider when planning prevention and developing methods of treating mental disorders.
