The Effect of Marriage on Individual Mental Health:An Empirical Study on the Variation and Differentiation of Depression Levels
In modern society,there are two phenomena that have aroused widespread concern.One is that the marriage system is facing challenges.Young people generally marry late or even"fear marriage"or"do not marry";The second is the rise of mental health issues,with depression taking a prominent place in the global burden of disease.Existing studies mainly analyze the protective effect of marriage on individuals based on cross-sectional data,and it is difficult to distinguish the protective effect and selection effect.The health trajectory related studies mostly related the change of depression level to the age of individuals,and paid less attention to the change of depression level with the increase of marriage duration.This paper discusses the impact of marriage on individual mental health.Based on 8-year longitudinal follow-up survey data from four waves(2012,2016,2018 and 2020)of the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS),a growth curve model is used to investigate the change trajectory and population differentiation of individuals'depression level with the increase of marriage duration.The study found that the mean level of individual depression showed an increasing trend over time,the dispersion increased,and the proportion of samples with depression tendency also increased.Individual depression level increased with the increase of mar-riage duration.After controlling for such interfering factors as demographic characteristics,socioeconomic status,self-rated health,marital quality and time spent on housework,the trajectory of individual depres-sion level with the increase of marriage duration changed from a"flat N-shaped pattern with a rising tail"in the baseline model to a"flat N-shaped pattern with a subdued tail".It proved that marriage has a protective effect on mental health.The turning point into the plateau phase occurs approximately 12 years after marriage.Gender and class variation of depression level with the increase of marriage duration are also evident.The initial depression level and the change rate of the depression level with the increase of marriage duration in men is lower than that in women,leading to a widening gender gap as marriage dura-tion increases.The higher the social class,the lower the initial depression level,and the depression level of individuals in the middle and high socioeconomic status changes more slowly with the growth of marriage duration,and the class difference in depression level expands with the growth of marriage duration.The policy implications of the above findings are also discussed.Although marriage has a protective effect on the mental health of both men and women,the protective effect on the mental health of women is less than that of men,and the dual constraints faced by women in marriage,the constraints of being a social woman and of being a family woman,are the main reason for the gender divergence in the trajectory of depression levels over the duration of marriage.Individuals with higher socioeconomic status usually have more eco-nomic resources and social support,which helps to improve the anti-risk ability of marriage and reduce the level of depression.The policy implication is to improve the socioeconomic status of the whole population through all-round development.
Mental HealthMarriage DurationDepression LevelsTrajectoryVariation and Differentiation
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