Men are more prone to depression following a marital breakdown than women, according to a study by Statistics Canada.
But both women and men have a higher risk of depression two years after the end of a marriage or common-law relationship.
The findings were based on data collected by the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), which looked at the associations between depression and divorce.
Divorced or separated men were six times more likely to report a period of depression than men who stayed with their spouse.
By contrast, divorced or separated women were 3.5 time more likely to experience depression than those still in a relationship.
NPHS has collected information on the health of Canadians every two years since 1994 and 1995.
On average, slightly more than four per cent of people aged 20 to 64 who were married or living with a common-law partner had separated two years later, when NPHS interviewed them again.
Of that number, 12 per cent said they had experienced a period of depression after their break-up, compared to three per cent of people who remained in a relationship.
Most people said their depression ended within four years of breaking up with their partner.
The study also found that depression was "independently associated" with divorce, meaning other factors connected to a break-up, like financial difficulties, were not enough to fully account for it.
