Women and depression: An update on the report of the APA task force

This article reviews selected research on gender differences in depression in order to update the status of the literature and address concerns raised by the APA Task Force on women and depression. Recent research continues to provide considerable evidence that women experience higher rates of depression and that a variety of biological and psychological factors and their interactions must be considered to understand gender differences. Methodological issues including the need to define homogeneous subgroups, the effect of demographic variables, and sex bias in the diagnosis and measurement of depression are discussed. Conclusions are drawn that have implications for the prevention, identification and treatment of depression, and suggestions are made for research strategies. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Elizabeth Meeker in the preparation of this article.