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
. 1991 Apr;20(2):247-71.
doi: 10.1007/BF01537611.

Adolescent depression: Why more girls?

A C Petersen  1 , P A Sarigiani, R E Kennedy
Affiliations

Adolescent depression: Why more girls?

A C Petersen et al. J Youth Adolesc. 1991 Apr.

Abstract

Although there has been evidence for some time of a sex difference in depression, relatively little research has examined the developmental process by which women come to be at greater risk than men for depression. In this paper, the developmental pattern of depressed affect is examined over early and middle adolescence, with a special focus on the patterns of boys as compared to girls. In addition, a developmental model for mental health in adolescence is tested for its power in explaining the emergence of gender differences in depression. Longitudinal data on 335 adolescents randomly selected from two school districts were used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that girls are at risk for developing depressed affect by 12th grade because they experienced more challenges in early adolescence than did boys. The sex difference in depressed affect at 12th grade disappears once early adolescent challenges are considered.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. AJS. 1973 Jan;78(4):812-35 - PubMed
    1. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1982 Oct;39(10):1205-12 - PubMed
    1. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1980 Jun;22(3):391-400 - PubMed
    1. Annu Rev Psychol. 1985;36:531-72 - PubMed
    1. J Abnorm Psychol. 1978 Feb;87(1):49-74 - PubMed