SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BASES OF HOMOGAMY FOR COMMON PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS

Homogamy for major depression, anxiety disorders, and alcohol or drug dependence was estimated using data from a community survey of married couples (n = 586). Homogamy was strong and significant for anxiety disorders and for alcohol or drug dependence, homogamy for major depression was not statistically significant. Analyses of alternative explanations for homogamy revealed support for some type of assortative mating. Rates of parental psychiatric history and of adverse childhood experiences were relatively high among husbands of anxious women, consistent with the hypothesis that anxious women selectively choose marital partners based on their risks of developing a psychiatric disorder: Similar differences in background obtained for wives of anxious and alcohol- or drug-dependent men and for husbands of depressed and alcohol- or drug-dependent wives, bur they were less pervasive. None of the observed differences in background between spouses of those who met criteria for psychiatric disorders and spouses of those who did not explained away the observed homogamy.