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Marital Intimacy and Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Edward M. Waring  and
David Patton
Edward M. Waring
Affiliation:
Victoria Hospital, 375 South Street, London, Ontario N6A 4G5
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Summary

Recent research has suggested that the absence of an intimate, confiding relationship may be a vulnerability factor in the development of depression in women living under adverse circumstances. This study demonstrates a significant association between severity of depression and deficiencies of marital intimacy; depressed patients with the lowest levels of marital intimacy failed to improve at one month follow-up, while 36% of the spouses of the depressed patients had symptoms of non-psychotic emotional illness. The depressed patients and their spouses' perception of their marital intimacy differ, but these differences appear not to be solely related to the spouse's depression.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 145 , Issue 6 , December 1984 , pp. 641 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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