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Criteria for detection of married or cohabiting couples in the UK Biobank

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  • Kelly, Kristen M.
  • Horwitz, Tanya B.
  • Keller, Matthew C.

Abstract

The UK Biobank (UKB) dataset contains a large number of spouse/partner pairs (hereafter, “couples”), making it a valuable resource for research on human mating. UKB data does not report relationships between participants, and UKB's preliminary participant colocation data (based on participants sharing the same street address) is not available for new researchers to request. This has led to different criteria for identification of spouse/partner pairs and highly discrepant sample sizes across papers, potentially contributing to heterogeneity in results. To address this, we developed and validated a standardized method for identifying couples that maximizes sample size while minimizing selection bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Kelly, Kristen M. & Horwitz, Tanya B. & Keller, Matthew C., 2025. "Criteria for detection of married or cohabiting couples in the UK Biobank," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625008068
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118475
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brian J. Ayotte & Frances M. Yang & Richard N. Jones, 2010. "Physical Health and Depression: A Dyadic Study of Chronic Health Conditions and Depressive Symptomatology in Older Adult Couples," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 65(4), pages 438-448.
    2. Richard Border & Sean O’Rourke & Teresa de Candia & Michael E. Goddard & Peter M. Visscher & Loic Yengo & Matt Jones & Matthew C. Keller, 2022. "Author Correction: Assortative mating biases marker-based heritability estimators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-1, December.
    3. Meyler, Deanna & Stimpson, Jim P. & Peek, M. Kristen, 2007. "Health concordance within couples: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 2297-2310, June.
    4. Richard Border & Sean O’Rourke & Teresa de Candia & Michael E. Goddard & Peter M. Visscher & Loic Yengo & Matt Jones & Matthew C. Keller, 2022. "Assortative mating biases marker-based heritability estimators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Loic Yengo & Matthew R. Robinson & Matthew C. Keller & Kathryn E. Kemper & Yuanhao Yang & Maciej Trzaskowski & Jacob Gratten & Patrick Turley & David Cesarini & Daniel J. Benjamin & Naomi R. Wray & Mi, 2018. "Imprint of assortative mating on the human genome," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(12), pages 948-954, December.
    6. Clare Bycroft & Colin Freeman & Desislava Petkova & Gavin Band & Lloyd T. Elliott & Kevin Sharp & Allan Motyer & Damjan Vukcevic & Olivier Delaneau & Jared O’Connell & Adrian Cortes & Samantha Welsh &, 2018. "The UK Biobank resource with deep phenotyping and genomic data," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7726), pages 203-209, October.
    7. Tabea Schoeler & Doug Speed & Eleonora Porcu & Nicola Pirastu & Jean-Baptiste Pingault & Zoltán Kutalik, 2023. "Participation bias in the UK Biobank distorts genetic associations and downstream analyses," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(7), pages 1216-1227, July.
    8. Laurence J. Howe & Daniel J. Lawson & Neil M. Davies & Beate St. Pourcain & Sarah J. Lewis & George Davey Smith & Gibran Hemani, 2019. "Genetic evidence for assortative mating on alcohol consumption in the UK Biobank," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Tomáš Lichard & Filip Pertold & Samuel Škoda, 2021. "Do women face a glass ceiling at home? The division of household labor among dual-earner couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1209-1243, December.
    10. Tanya B. Horwitz & Jared V. Balbona & Katie N. Paulich & Matthew C. Keller, 2023. "Evidence of correlations between human partners based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 22 traits and UK Biobank analysis of 133 traits," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(9), pages 1568-1583, September.
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