Do women find it harder to bounce back emotionally from a divorce or relationship break-up in later life compared to men? A new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health suggests so, using patterns of antidepressant use as a gauge for emotional well-being. The study found that antidepressant use increased significantly in the years leading up to and following a union dissolution, with women showing a larger increase than men. While re-partnering initially led to a decrease in antidepressant use, indicating a temporary improvement in mental health, this effect was often short-lived, particularly for women.
So-called “grey divorce,” which refers to the phenomenon of divorcing at the age of 50 and older, has been on the rise in high-income countries. This demographic shift is largely attributed to the aging baby boomer generation, who were the first to cohabit in significant numbers and are now entering late adulthood.
As the population ages, more individuals find themselves reassessing their relationships later in life, leading to an increase in divorces among this older age group. These divorces occur at a stage in life when couples might otherwise be looking forward to retirement or enjoying their golden years together.
The motivation behind this study stems from a need to understand the implications of these late-life relationship transitions on mental health, particularly given the limited and dated literature on the topic.
Utilizing the robust and comprehensive data infrastructure of Finland, the researchers harnessed a wealth of information spanning over two decades, from 1996 to 2018. This extensive dataset, provided by Statistics Finland and the Social Insurance Institution, included records of all permanent Finnish residents, allowing for an unprecedented level of detail and accuracy in tracking life events and their subsequent impacts.
At the heart of the study were 228,644 individuals aged 50 to 70 years who experienced a significant transition in their relationship status between 2000 and 2014. This cohort was carefully selected from a larger pool of 2.36 million men and women, ensuring a wide-ranging examination of the effects of union dissolution on a significant segment of the population.
To assess the impact of these life events, the study focused on the use of antidepressants, identified through purchases recorded in the National Prescription Register. In Finland, antidepressant medication can only be obtained via a prescription from a medical doctor, and all residents are entitled to reimbursement for medication expenses, providing a reliable measure of antidepressant consumption.
The study found a clear pattern: antidepressant use increased in the lead-up to and aftermath of a union dissolution, with a more pronounced increase observed among women, indicating a significant emotional toll associated with these events. This trend was observed across all types of union dissolution, but with marked gender disparities.
Women, in particular, showed a more pronounced increase in antidepressant use compared to men, suggesting that they may experience greater difficulty in emotionally adjusting to the end of a marriage or cohabitation.
The study highlighted that this increased vulnerability among women persisted regardless of whether the union dissolution was due to divorce, non-marital separation, or bereavement, pointing towards a broader pattern of gendered differences in coping with significant relationship changes.
“The greater increases in [antidepressant] use associated with union dissolution among women in our study may indeed relate to the fact that the costs of union dissolution on mental health fall more heavily on women than men,” the researchers wrote.
Furthermore, the study delved into the effects of re-partnering after such union dissolutions. While re-partnering led to a temporary decrease in antidepressant use for both genders, indicating an initial improvement in mental health, this benefit was not long-lasting. The findings suggested that the positive mental health effects of finding a new partner after a significant relationship transition are transient, particularly for women.
For female participants, any reduction in antidepressant use following re-partnering was short-lived, with levels often returning to or exceeding pre-repartnering levels relatively quickly. This contrasts with the general expectation that finding a new partner might provide lasting emotional support and contribute to a sustained improvement in mental health.
“The smaller declines in [antidepressant] use associated with re-partnering in women than in men may be related to the explanations that marriage benefits men’s mental health to a greater extent than women’s, and older men are more likely than women to seek emotional support from re-partnering,” the researchers explained. “In addition, women may take greater responsibilities to manage interpersonal relationships between the blended families, such as those with the partner’s children, which could undermine their mental health.”
Despite its strengths, the study is not without limitations. For one, it did not account for the quality of the relationships before dissolution or the cumulative effect of multiple unions over an individual’s lifetime, factors that could significantly influence mental health outcomes. Additionally, the broader social support networks and living arrangements of the participants were not fully examined, as the study only controlled for the presence of co-resident children.
These aspects suggest directions for future research, which could explore how these and other factors, such as relationship quality and social support networks, impact the mental health of older adults undergoing significant relationship transitions.
The study, “Trajectories of antidepressant use before and after union dissolution and re-partnering in later life: a prospective total population register-based cohort study“, was authored by Yaoyue Hu, Niina Metsä-Simola, Satu Malmberg, and Pekka Martikainen.
