How the traditional gender mindset differentially affects depression among husbands and wives in China

The traditional gender mindset has a long history, but little is known about the relation between this mindset and mental health. The respondent data were drawn from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a large-scale longitudinal survey of the Chinese population. The present study included a total of 23,697 respondents (55.78% men and 66.02% women), with a mean age of 49 years. We used probit regression to examine the impact of the traditional gender mindset on individuals’ depression (N = 23697) and their spouses’ depression (N = 17537). We found an inverted U-shaped relation between men’s traditional gender mindset scores and depression, and a positive correlation between women’s traditional gender mindset and depression. Meanwhile, the traditional gender mindset of husbands was positively correlated with their wives’ depression, while the traditional gender mindset of wives was not correlated with their husbands’ depression. The results suggest that there is a clear link between the traditional gender mindset and depression in individuals, and one’s traditional gender mindset may also influence the depression of their spouses.