Mental Health 511Attributes Questionnaire), which reflect a
positive focus on others. These scales include
traits such as being helpful, kind, and caring.
Communion, however, is unrelated to de-
pression (Hirokawa & Dohi, 2007). By con-
trast, agency, which includes traits such as
independent, self-confident, and persistent, is
related to lower levels of depression. Agency
reflects a positive focus on and regard for the
self. Increases in agency over adolescence
are associated with decreases in depression
(Priess, Lindberg, & Hyde, 2009). In addi-
tion, agency seems to influence the relation
of communion to depression. Communion is
associated with less depression among indi-
viduals who are high in agency, whereas com-
munion is associated with more depression
among individuals who are low in agency
(Lam & McBride-Chang, 2007). The combi-
nation of high communion and low agency is
similar to the construct of unmitigated com-
munion, discussed in more detail next.
Thus there appears to be no data link-
ing the female gender role trait of commu-
nion to depression. Instead, it seems that
features of the male gender role (agency)
protect against depression. However, gen-
der roles are multifaceted. I argue there is an
aspect of the female gender role related to
depression: unmitigated communion.Unmitigated Communion. Recall that
unmitigated communionis defined as a fo-
cus on others to the exclusion of the self
(Helgeson, 1994c; Helgeson & Fritz, 1998).
Unmitigated communion has been associ-
ated with depression in studies of college
students, cardiac patients, healthy adoles-
cents, adolescents with diabetes, and healthy
adults (Aube, 2008; Helgeson & Fritz, 1998;
Hirokawa & Dohi, 2007; Jin et al., 2010). In
addition, unmitigated communion can ac-
count for the sex difference in depression.depression three years later among girls but
not boys (Rudolph, Ladd, & Dinella, 2007).
Better tests of this hypothesis have
come from studies that use ecological mo-
mentary assessment (EMA) methods. EMA
methods involve having respondents com-
plete measures of stress at specified inter-
vals or random intervals over the course of
the day for several days or weeks. A study
of eighth and tenth graders who completed
measures of daily stress for a week showed
that females reported more interpersonal
stress and males reported more achievement
stress (Hankin, Mermelstein, & Roesch,
2007). The relation of daily stress to depres-
sion one year later was stronger for females
than males. It was interpersonal stress, how-
ever, that accounted for the sex difference
in depression, providing evidence for dif-
ferential vulnerability. A study of college
students who completed measures of stress
and depressed mood several times a day for
a week showed that women were more re-
active to stress than men—but only those
without a history of depression (Husky et al.,
2009). Among those with a history, men and
women were equally reactive to stress.
Taken collectively, these studies show
that the reason women are more depressed
than men has less to do with the stress-
ful events they face and more to do with
how strongly they respond to those events.
Women are especially affected by stressors
that involve others. Why? This question is
addressed next, when I examine the female
gender role as an explanation of sex differ-
ences in depression.The Female Gender Role
Communion and Agency. Trait measures
of the female gender role are typically mea-
sured with communion scales of the BSRI
(Bem Sex Role Inventory) or PAQ (PersonalM13_HELG0185_04_SE_C13.indd 511 6/21/11 12:55 PM