Partnership Quality and Mental Health Among Older Adults in England Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using longitudinal data from Wave 9 (2018/19) and two COVID-19 sub-studies of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 4994), we examined how partnership status and relationship quality in the early months of the pandemic (June/July 2020) related to depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction (November/December 2020) among older people. Associations were analyzed using logistic regression models while controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors as well as pre-pandemic mental health. We found that respondents in poor-quality partnerships reported higher depression (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.07-3.76), anxiety (OR = 2.62, 95% CI = 1.74-3.94), and low life satisfaction (OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.67-2.86) than those in fair partnerships. Results also indicate that better partnership quality was associated with better mental health, while being in a poor partnership was as detrimental to mental health as not having a cohabiting partner. Relationship quality is important for mental health, particularly when policies restricting contact and mobility may exacerbate relational issues.