Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Nov;36(8):1251-63.
doi: 10.1007/s10802-008-9248-2.

Testing a gender additive model: the role of body image in adolescent depression

Sarah Kate Bearman  1 , Eric Stice
Affiliations

Testing a gender additive model: the role of body image in adolescent depression

Sarah Kate Bearman et al. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2008 Nov.

Abstract

Despite consistent evidence that adolescent girls are at greater risk of developing depression than adolescent boys, risk factor models that account for this difference have been elusive. The objective of this research was to examine risk factors proposed by the gender additive model of depression that attempts to partially explain the increased prevalence of depression in adolescent girls. The theory suggests that body image and eating related variables predict depression for girls, but not for boys, above and beyond the variance accounted for by other well-known risk factors, some of which were examined in the current study. The sample was 247 adolescent girls and 181 adolescent boys studied over a 24-month duration. Results suggest that body dissatisfaction is a potent predictor of depression for girls, but not for boys, above and beyond the predictive effects of other established risk factors. Results provide insight into the etiology of adolescent depression and the disparate rate of depression among adolescent girls and provide direction for identifying high-risk individuals and developing effective prevention programs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Absolute numbers of diagnosed cases of major depressive disorder (MDD) and minor depression at each age, for girls and boys
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Achenbach TM, Edelbrock C. Manual for the youth self-report and profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry; 1987.
    1. Ambrosini PJ. Historical development and present status of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Children (K-SADS) Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry. 2000;39:49–58. - PubMed
    1. Barkley RA, Edwards G, Laneri M, Fletcher K, Metevia L. The efficacy of problem-solving communication training alone, behavior management training alone, and their combination for parent-adolescent conflict in teenagers with ADHD and ODD. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology. 2001;69:926–941. - PubMed
    1. Bathalon GP, Tucker KL, Hays NP, Vinken AG, Greenberg AS, McCrory MA, et al. Psychological measures of eating behavior and the accuracy of 3 common dietary assessment methods in healthy postmenopausal women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000;71:739. - PubMed
    1. Bearman SK, Presnell K, Martinez E, Stice E. The skinny on body dissatisfaction: A longitudinal study of adolescent girls and boys. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2006;35:229–241. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types