Gender differences in depression in college students

Although there is much evidence indicating that females report more depressive symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) relative to males, virtually no research has examined or reported gender differences on several other measures tapping negative affect—namely, the Expanded Attributional Styles Questionnaire (EASQ) and the Selves Questionnaire. Our first study examined gender differences on both the BDI and EASQ, and found that females reported more depressive symptoms and a more maladaptive attributional style than males. In our second study, the data revealed that, again, females were found to have a more maladaptive attributional style than males. In addition, on the Selves Questionnaire, there was a significant discrepancy between actual and ideal self for females, but not for males. When delineating most frequently used ideal categories, the data revealed that females were more likely than males to report greater strivings for ideal attributes relevant to interpersonal relationships and body image/attractiveness, whereas males reported more ideal strivings for intelligence. These data suggest some content areas in which females and males differ with regard to “traits” to which they aspire, and which may produce dejection and negative affect if not attained.     

Gender differences in type a behavior and hostility within an organizational setting

Abstract

Recent investigations suggest that the hostility component of the Type A behavior patter (TABP) is a greater detriment to health than the overall pattern. Some researchers suggest that certain Type A characteristics (e.g., job-involvement) are actually adaptive. This study compared the relative relationship of the TABP and hostility to career-related achievement and psychosocial adjustment among 223 service-delivery employees. Male and female participants completed the Jenkins Activity Survey and the MMPI Hostility Scale as part of a cardiovascular disease risk factor screening. The TABP was positively associated with managerial status for both men and women. However, the TABP was positively related to psychosocial adjustment variables among men only. Hostility was significantly related to undesirable outcomes including lower job status, life dissatisfaction, and unfavorable perceptions of the workplace for both men and women. Discussion addresses organizational factors which might perpetuate hostility and the TABP, as well as gender differences in the experience of these constructs.     

Gender differences in the development of depression

The present study attempted to examine possible gender differences in the vulnerability to depression, specifically with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, age of onset, season of hospitalization, and type of treatment. The records of all patients (67 women and 34 men), treated during 1991 for major depression, dysthymia, or depression NOS at a psychiatric hospital in Southeastern Sweden were examined, and placed in empirically derived categories regarding eliciting factors.
The results indicated significant gender differences with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, and age. The eliciting factor in female depression was most commonly "threat to social bonds" whereas in male depression it was "threat to self esteem" or "threat to self respect". Married women were more prone to depression than were married men, as were men living alone compared to women living alone. Women above 60 years of age were significantly more prone to depression than were men of this age group. The results were discussed from two theoretical perspectives: gender role theory and gender-specific developmental theory.     

Beyond depression: Gender differences in normal adolescents' emotional experiences

Adolescents (N=262) in the fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades reported the frequency, intensity, and duration of their experiences of 12 emotions and the situations during which they occurred. The first three scales of emotion combined to produce the emotion saliency score. Girls reported higher saliences of surprise, sad, self-hostility, shame, shy, and guilt. Boys reported higher saliency of contempt. Factor analysis of the salient emotions retained the same three factors for both genders: positive emotion, inner-passive, and outer-hostile negative emotions. The loadings for surprise, sad, and anger on each factor suggested within factor gender differences. Most salient emotions were experienced with peers; however, boys experienced both surprise and sadness more often when alone than did girls. There were gender differences in most emotion categories on the events associated with salient emotions. Boys found activities and achievement, and girls found affiliation, to be emotionally salient. These data suggest that gender differences in emotion are pervasive rather than confined to depressive emotion and include differences in the organizational properties of emotion.This study was based upon data collected for the first author's dissertation under the direction of the second author. Preliminary analyses were presented at Eastern Psychological Association, Crystal City, Maryland, 1987.     

Gender differences in loneliness and depression of university students seeking counselling

Gender differences in loneliness and depression were examined among university students seeking counselling. The short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were completed by 325 counselling seekers (107 males and 218 females) in Israel. Males were significantly higher in loneliness than females, while females were significantly higher in depression than males. The greater loneliness of male counselling-seekers than that of females is discussed, as well as the possibility of a response set. Implications for assessment and counselling are suggested.     

Gender differences in depression in children as a function of motivational orientation

Based on previous theoretical and empirical analyses, the present study examined two hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that children who have an extrinsic motivational orientation, i.e., children who perform schoolwork for approval or fear of evaluation, would be more depressed than intrinsics, who are generally more interested in learning and exhibit the desire to obtain mastery over challenge. Second, based on data showing that girls are more likely to be extrinsic than boys, we hypothesized that girls would also be more depressed than their male counterparts. The data proved strong support for the hypotheses. In our discussion, we highlight the need for further research to examine the causal relation among motivational orientation, gender, and depression to develop social-developmental theories and clinical interventions for depressed, extrinsic girls and boys.     

Gender differences in the link between intimate partner physical violence and depression

Studies show that, in violent relationships, both partners suffer from higher levels of depression than in non-violent relationships. Most of these studies were based on samples of battered women. Very little research has examined the depression levels of women who physically assault a marital or dating partner or men who assault or are victims of female assaults. Moreover, the association between intimate partner physical violence and depression does not provide a theoretical framework or an explanation for the differences in depression levels of male and female perpetrators and victims. This article presents a preliminary, yet empirically grounded, foundation for explaining research findings on depression levels for males and females in three “Dyadic Types” of intimate partner physical violence: Male-Only, Female-Only, and Both Violent. The theoretical framework involves identifying the relation of intimate partner physical violence to be of greater male than female concern with status enhancement and greater female than male concern with risk reduction, and how these play out in each of the Dyadic Types.     

Gender and marital status differences in depression: The effects of chronic strains

Although women evidently have higher depression levels than men and singles have higher depression levels than the married, the reasons for these differences are yet unclear. This paper investigates whether differences in the stress-producing circumstances of the lives of men and women, and the married and unmarried, might explain the differences in their levels of depression. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we found that gender differences in depression were accounted for by chronic strains. Family-based strains and economic hardship are significant predictors of higher distress in women. Chronic strains also explain why variations in depression are more pronounced among the married than among the unmarried.Bowling Green State University     

Gender differences in early risk factors for adolescent depression among low-income urban children

One component of a model by Nolen-Hoeksema and Girgus, who propose that risk factors for adolescent depression are more common in girls than in boys during childhood, was tested with 85 low-income, urban, African American and Latino kindergarten through fourth grade children who completed inventories of depression, stress, attributional style, gender role, and body image. Endorsing two of three predicted risk factors, girls reported slightly poorer body image and identified more strongly with a feminine gender role. Boys, however, reported a more negative attributional style. Feminine gender role was not associated with body image or negative attributional style. The applicability of the proposed model to a low-income, ethnic minority, urban population is discussed.     

Gender differences in depression: The role of anxiety and generalized negative affect

This study used the tripartite model of depression and anxiety to examine whether gender differences in depression may be accounted for, in part, by the overlap of depression with anxiety and negative affectivity. The tripartite model distinguishes between pure forms of depression and anxiety, co-morbid depression and anxiety, and mixed anxiety-depression. One hundred-six college students completed questionnaires that measured depression, anxiety, and negative and positive affectivity. Results were moderately consistent with hypotheses. Specifically, the proportion of women versus men was significantly higher in the categories of co-morbid depression and anxiety and mixed anxiety-depression, but not in the categories of specific (i.e., pure) depression or anxiety. It is argued that specific depression may be equally prevalent in men and women, but that other depression-related syndromes may be more common among women than men.     

Gender differences in perceptions and consequences of an eating binge

Little systematic research has examined the factors that contribute to perceptions of an eating binge. This study showed videotapes of a single male, single female, or three females eating a variable number of doughnuts at different rates to male and female undergraduate subjects. Subjects were asked to label their own eating as a binge or not, had they eaten like the person on the videotape, and how they would feel afterward. The majority of female subject labeled their own eating as a binge under all conditions, and endorsed negative emotional outcomes. Males required a large number of doughnuts, or rapid consumption before the majority labeled it a binge, and experienced mostly gastrointestinal outcomes. Many noneating disordered women in our culture may be labeling much of their eating as a binge and experience dysphoria afterward.     

Gender differences in adolescent self-esteem: an exploration of domains

The relationship between gender and global self-esteem in adolescence, while modest, has been well established, with boys consistently scoring higher than girls. In the present study, we sought to understand gender differences in adolescent self-esteem in terms of its component parts. With a relatively large (n = 545) sample of adolescents, drawn from Grades 8, 10, and 12, we specified 8 domains of adolescent self-esteem (personal security, home/parents, peer popularity, academic competence, attractiveness, personal mastery, psychological permeability, and athletic competence) across a number of different instruments and brought them together into a common assessment superstructure. Gender differences as well as the relative contributions of the different domains to overall self-esteem scores were measured. As predicted, boys attained slightly higher global self-esteem scores than girls did, by a difference of .22 standard deviation units. Contrary to our expectation of more balanced domain effects, boys significantly outperformed girls in 6 of 8 domains, whereas the 2 remaining domains exhibited no significant gender differences. There were no main or interaction effects for grade level. In terms of relative contribution of these domains to global self-esteem for the 2 genders, global self-esteem in boys and girls is predicted in very similar strengths and in the same order of magnitude by identical domains of self-esteem: home/parents, personal security, academic competence, attractiveness, and personal mastery--yielding multiple R2s from .88 to .91.     

Gender differences in the development and adult outcome of co-occurring depression and delinquency in adolescence

Using a dual trajectory modeling approach, we examined co-occurring trajectories of depression and delinquency from age 11 to age 18 and their relation to adult outcome six years later in a community sample of 1423 (674 boys) adolescents. We also examined the effects of childhood externalizing, internalizing, and social problems on trajectory membership for depression and delinquency. The results showed that although more girls than boys were likely to follow high-level, co-occurring trajectories on depression and delinquency, the adult outcome of adolescents following high-level trajectories on both domains was poorer for boys than for girls. However, the combination of decreasing depression symptoms and increasing delinquency symptoms across adolescence was related with poorer adult outcomes for girls compared to boys. Finally, whereas boys' high-level co-occurring trajectory of depression and delinquency was predicted by childhood aggression, girls' equivalent trajectory was predicted by childhood depression and delinquency. The findings support the "gender paradox" effect (Loeber & Keenan, 1994) stating that in disorders with an unequal gender ratio, members of the gender with the lower prevalence rate tend to be more seriously affected in terms of comorbidity and poor outcome.     

Gender differences in phonetic processing

In research on dyslexia, inadequate or inappropriate comparisons have often been made with control subjects, frequently overlooking important gender differences. More information is needed regarding the performance of control subjects, and adults, on measures purportedly assessing phonological and orthographic processing. Using tests similar to those used in dyslexic research, 20 female and 20 male college-age students were tested to examine gender differences in phonetic processing skills. The findings suggest that in equally competent readers, gender and other factors do play a significant role in determining the time it takes for phoneme manipulation and word identification. Females, especially those with poorer academic records, are significantly slower than males on measures typically used in dyslexic research. These findings show a need for a reexamination of control group equivalence (especially regarding gender), and further exploration of variables that might influence performance on these tasks.     

Gender differences in moral development

Sixty-nine Midwestern middle-class children and adolescents were tested on justice and care orientations when reasoning abstract and interpersonal moral dilemmas. Nona Lyons' (“Two Perspectives on Self, Relationships and Morality,” Harvard Educational Review, 1983, 53, 125–145) scoring method was used to score subjects' responses. A 2(sex)×2(age) analysis of variance run on the total justice and care scores, as well as each individual dilemma, supported Carol Gilligan's (In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982) theory that two distinct ways of thinking about moral problems exist — justice and care — and are differentially related to gender. Girls emphasized the morality of care significantly more than justice. Contrary to Gilligan (1982) and Lyons (1983), however, boys in both age groups emphasized the morality of justice and care equally. Data from the interpersonal dilemmas using Lyons's (1983) coding scheme are consistent with J. Piaget (The Moral Judgement of the Child, New York: Free Press, 1966) and Lawrence Kohlberg [“The Cognitive-Developmental Approach,” in D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969]: older subjects became more justice oriented and younger subjects emphasized the morality of care. Sex differences on Kohlberg's stage theory were not significant and the protagonist's gender in the Heinz dilemma had no effect on moral reasoning.     

Gender differences in geographical knowledge

In five experiments involving more than 1800 undergraduate students, males more accurately located places on maps of the United States or its various regions than did females. These gender differences could not be attributed to education, travel history, desire to travel, or in the amount of incidental exposure to several potential sources of geographic information in everyday life. Males performed more accurately than females on measures of egocentric and allocentric spatial orientation, but performance on these tasks was only weakly predictive of accuracy on tests of geographical knowledge. Since males and females learned the locations of places on an unfamiliar map at similar rates, regardless of whether such learning occurred under intentional or incidental instructions, gender differences in geographical knowledge cannot be attributed to differences in capacity to learn place locations on maps. An attentional hypothesis is proposed to account for the more accurate performance of males on tests of geographical knowledge.     

Gender differences in phonetic processing

In research on dyslexia, inadequate or inappropriate comparisons have often been made with control subjects, frequently overlooking important gender differences. More information is needed regarding the performance of control subjects, and adults, on measures purportedly assessing phonological and orthographic processing. Using tests similar to those used in dyslexic research, 20 female and 20 male college-age students were tested to examine gender differences in phonetic processing skills. The findings suggest that in equally competent readers, gender and other factors do play a significant role in determining the time it takes for phoneme manipulation and word identification. Females, especially those with poorer academic records, are significantly slower than males on measures typically used in dyslexic research. These findings show a need for a reexamination of control group equivalence (especially regarding gender), and further exploration of variables that might influence performance on these tasks.     

Gender differences in episodic memory

The relationship between gender and memory has been largely neglected by research, despite occasional studies reporting gender differences in episodic memory performance. The present study examined potential gender differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, primary memory, and priming. Five hundred thirty women and 470 men, randomly sampled from the city of Umeå, Sweden, 35–80 years of age, participated in the study. There were no differences between men and women with regard to age or education, or on a measure of global intellectual functioning. As has been demonstrated previously, men outperformed women on a visuospatial task and women outperformed men on tests of verbal fluency. In addition, the results demonstrated that women consistently performed at a higher level than did men on the episodic memory tasks, although there were no differences between men and women on the tasks assessing semantic memory, primary memory, or priming. The women’s higher level of performance on the episodic memory tasks could not be fully explained by their higher verbal ability.     

Gender differences in implicit prejudice

In three experiments (n=131), we examined gender differences in implicit (and explicit) racial prejudice employing priming of immigrant and Swedish facial photographs without attention or without awareness. Implicit prejudice was defined as the degree of negativity expressed toward a person described in a subsequent ambiguous story in an impression formation task. We found, contrary to our hypothesis, that women displayed systematically higher implicit prejudice than men in all three experiments, although men scored higher on explicit prejudice than women. The results are discussed against the background of related prejudice research, the dissociation of implicit and explicit prejudice, and gender differences in cognitive functioning, especially in the processing of pictorial stimuli.