The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

488 Chapter 13

feeling sad or blue, feeling depressed, hav-

ing crying spells, difficulty concentrating,

and loss of interest in activities. Perhaps you

have completed such an instrument during

college. A widely used self-report measure of

depression, the Center for Epidemiological

Studies in Depression scale (CES-D; Radloff,

1977), is shown in Table 13.1.

The criteria for a major depressive disor-

der, as diagnosed by theDiagnostic and Statisti-

cal Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)

(American Psychiatric Association, 2000), are

shown in Table 13.2. The critical feature of a

major depressive disorder is the experience of

a set of depressive symptoms for a period no

that synergistically interact to explain the

sex difference in depression. Many theories

have female gender-role socialization at

their cores. Theories differentially empha-

size the following ideas: (1) women are led

to perceive less control over their environ-

ment than men; (2) women and men cope

differently with stress; (3) women and men

face different stressors; and (4) women

are more vulnerable to different classes of

stressors. One reason gender-role expla-

nations are so viable is that sex differences

in depression emerge during adolescence

when gender-role norms become salient.

Thus I conclude with some remarks about

the challenges of adolescence and how they

might spark the sex difference in depres-

sion. In addition to reviewing research on

depression, I also examine how men and

women respond to the onset of a chronic

illness, because it is a major stressful life

event that often evokes depression.

Aside from depression, I examine

two other mental health problems rel-

evant to gender: eating disorders and

suicide. Suicide has a paradoxical link

to gender; although women attempt sui-

cide more often than men, more men kill

themselves than women.

Sex Differences in Depression

Before we examine the incidence of depres-

sion in women and men, we must distin-

guish between depressive symptoms, which

all of us experience to some extent at one

time or another, and major depressive dis-

order or clinical depression, which is a diag-

nosable mental health problem. Instruments

that measure depressive symptoms include

TABLE 13.1 CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

IN DEPRESSION SCALE (CES-D)

1. I was bothered by things that usually don’t
   bother me.


2. I did not feel like eating; my appetite was
   poor.


3. I felt that I could not shake off the blues
   even with the help of my family or friends.


4. I felt that I was just as good as other people.*


5. I had trouble keeping my mind on what I
   was doing.


6. I felt depressed.


7. I felt that everything I did was an effort.


8. I felt hopeful about the future.*


9. I thought my life had been a failure.


10. I felt fearful.


11. My sleep was restless.


12. I was happy.*


13. I talked less than usual.


14. I felt lonely.


15. People were unfriendly.


16. I enjoyed life.*


17. I had crying spells.


18. I felt sad.


19. I felt that people disliked me.


20. I could not get “going.”
    *These items are reverse scored so that lower endorse-
    ment indicates more depression.
    Source: Radloff (1977).

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