As one of the most severe public health issues, depressive symptoms have attracted wide attention around the world. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of marital life satisfaction in the relationship between gender inequality perception and depressive symptoms.

Data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2020. This study incorporated a total of 13,409 married residents aged 20 and above.

The residents with middle (B = 0.19, 95 % CI = 0.01, 0.40) or high perception of gender inequality (B = 0.55, 95 % CI = 0.34, 0.75) were more likely to develop depressive symptoms. Marital life satisfaction plays a mediating effect in the relationship between patterns of gender inequality perception and depressive symptoms, and the mediating effect accounted for 4.89 % or 1.37 % of the total impact in the residents with middle or high patterns of gender inequality perception.

Further studies need to understand the mechanisms of perceived patterns of gender inequality and depressive symptoms, because the cross-sectional design in this study cannot draw causal inferences.

Patterns of gender inequality perception are significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Marital life satisfaction plays a mediating role in the relationship between patterns of gender inequality perception and depressive symptoms. It is plausible that nurturing healthy marital relationships could mitigate depressive symptoms in individuals who perceive high degrees of gender disparity.