WASHINGTON, Feb 15, (Agencies): A recent Finnish study revealed that women tend to exhibit higher antidepressant usage than men when relationships end later in life. Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study, led by Yaoyue Hu, a professor at Chongqing Medical University, analyzed Finnish registry data spanning from 2000 to 2014, focusing on nearly 230,000 individuals aged 50 to 70.

The research aimed to understand the mental health implications of divorce and remarriage in later life, examining trajectories of antidepressant use before and after union dissolution and re-partnering. The study considered three relationship situations: breakups (both non-marital separation and divorce), bereavement (partner's death), and re-partnering.

The findings indicated that women experienced more significant increases in antidepressant use associated with breakups compared to men. In the four years leading up to a split, women showed a substantial rise in antidepressant use, nearly double the rate of men (6% of women versus 3.2% of men).

Upon re-partnering, individuals tended to reduce their antidepressant use, but the reductions were more temporary among women than men. In cases where individuals not only split from but stopped living with their partners, women exhibited large increases in antidepressant use in the four years leading up to the separation, while men also increased medication usage, but to a lesser extent.

After non-marital breakups, men's antidepressant use declined to pre-split levels within a year and remained consistent. Women experienced a small decline in medication use, but after a year post-split, their antidepressant use began to increase again.

Additionally, the study found that following bereavement and non-marital breakups, more men re-partnered than women. However, there was no significant gender difference in re-partnering post-divorce. These insights shed light on the gender-specific patterns of antidepressant use in the context of late-life relationship changes.