Reciprocal longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and romantic partners’ synchronized view of relationship quality

Depressive symptoms are negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. The degree to which depression is associated longitudinally with relationship quality as assessed by both partners, versus with the depressed person’s unique view of the relationship, may have implications for interventions. Longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction were examined among 260 couples. Individual measures of relationship satisfaction were decomposed into dyadic relationship quality and each partner’s additional unique view of the relationship. Depressive symptoms and dyadic relationship quality predicted changes in each other, which suggested that the longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and relationship quality are not due to reporter biases or confounded by other individual factors, but rather that relationship quality and depressive symptoms affect each other over time.