This study is intended as a replication of previous research by Kreitman and Ovenstone on psychopathology in married couples. According to their 'contagion theory' a more than average level of psychopathology is to be expected in the partners of psychiatric patients. This level of psychopathology of the partner is assumed to increase with the degree and the length of the patient's illness and with the duration of the marriage. As measuring instruments we used the 'Amsterdamse Biografische Vragenlijst', which is comparable to the Maudsley Personality Inventory and a translated form of Kellner and Sheffield's Symptom Rating Test. We obtained data on 31 couples of whom the wife was referred as an outpatient to the University Psychiatric Clinic of Leyden and on 41 couples of whom the husband was referred. Our results did to some extend correspond with the expectations derived from the contagion theory for male patients and their wife, but not for female patients and their husband. This supports Kreitman's observation that the so-called 'spouse-effect' is more clearly present when the male is the patient.