Couples more likely to share same mental illnesses, study finds
By Ryan General
Romantic partners are significantly more likely to share psychiatric diagnoses, a new study shows, and their children face double the risk when both parents have the same condition. Published in Nature Human Behaviour last month, the analysis of nearly 15 million people across Taiwan, Denmark and Sweden found strong spousal overlap in disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety, with the effect growing stronger in younger generations.
- Scope of disorders examined: The study analyzed nine conditions: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorder and anorexia nervosa. Across all of these, researchers found that when one partner had a diagnosis, the other was more likely to be diagnosed with the same condition than would be expected among unrelated individuals. The strength of association varied by disorder but the pattern was consistent.
- Differences across countries: “The main result is that the pattern holds across countries, across cultures and, of course, generations,” said lead author Chun Chieh Fan. While most conditions showed similar levels of concordance, some differences emerged. Taiwanese couples were more likely than Nordic couples to both be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Smaller variations were observed for bipolar disorder and anorexia nervosa, where the degree of overlap differed modestly between regions.
- Patterns across generations: The likelihood of shared diagnoses among partners increased slightly with each decade of birth, particularly for substance use disorders. The intergenerational effect was pronounced: children of couples who shared the same psychiatric disorder were about twice as likely to develop that condition compared with children who had only one parent with the diagnosis.
- Implications for clinical practice: The results highlight consistent patterns of psychiatric disorder overlap among couples across three distinct populations. Researchers emphasize the importance of considering partner and family histories in psychiatric assessment and care. They recommend that future studies further investigate the genetic, social and environmental mechanisms that shape these shared health outcomes.
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