Relationship Satisfaction, Conflict, and Depressive Symptoms Among Same‐Gender and Mixed‐Gender Couples in Germany

ABSTRACT Intimate relationships are key to promoting better mental health among the adult population. This includes not only one's own but also a partner's appraisal of the relationship. Because of the gendered nature of socialization and power dynamics, the association between dyadic relationship quality (satisfaction and conflict) and mental health (depressive symptoms) can be better understood by comparing men and women in same‐gender and mixed‐gender couples. This study included 14,346 individuals from 7,173 couples ( n = 117 men in same‐gender couples; n = 104 women in same‐gender couples) who participated in the initial wave of the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA), a nationally representative sample of adults 18–49. Results indicated that (a) women in same‐gender relationships reported higher depressive symptoms than men in mixed‐gender relationships; (b) own relationship satisfaction and own reports of relationship conflict were most strongly associated with depressive symptoms among women in same‐gender couples; and (c) partners' reports of relationship conflict were more strongly linked with depressive symptoms among same‐gender relationships. Results highlight the complex experience of gender as a relational concept concerning adult couples' relationship quality and mental health, with relationship factors appearing particularly consequential for mental health among women in same‐gender couples.