Gender Differences in the Expression of Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether gender differences in the expression of depressive symptoms could be identified on the basis of responses to the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Participants were 207 French-Canadian high school students (83 males, 124 females) from a large metropolitan area of Central Canada. Unlike previous studies with depressed samples, discriminant function analyses of data obtained from nonclinical subjects in the present study revealed lower mean scores for males than females on all interpretable RADS and BDI items. The discrepancy between these and other findings is discussed in the context of the sex role socialization theory. It is argued that females in general may be more likely to report a variety of depressive symptoms, but when overall depression scores are high, both males and females present symptoms congruent with their respective socially prescribed gender roles.