Abstract
Abstract Mental and physical health are important concerns in late adulthood. To gain a deeper understanding of the associations between depressive symptoms and self-rated and cognitive health as they occur contextualized within romantic relationships and across different cultures, we examined these links in older romantic couples of 36 nations. To that end, we used data from North and South America, Europe, and Asia with a total sample of 47,396 romantic couples. Between-partner correlations of depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and cognitive health demonstrated substantial variations across cultures. Further, we found that the depressive symptoms in one partner were linked to worse self-rated health and worse cognitive performance in both partners. Age, education, and functional difficulties partly accounted for these associations. These findings were also characterized by cross-cultural variation. Hence, depressive symptoms represent a potential risk factor for health in couples.
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