Annual Research Review: Sex, gender, and internalizing conditions among adolescents in the 21st century - trends, causes, consequences

Abstract

Internalizing conditions of psychopathology include depressive and anxiety disorders; they most often onset in adolescence, are relatively common, and contribute to significant population morbidity and mortality. In this research review, we present the evidence that internalizing conditions, including depression and anxiety, as well as psychological distress, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and fatal suicide, are considerably increasing in adolescent populations across many countries. Evidence indicates that increases are currently greatest in female adolescents. We present an epidemiological framework for evaluating the causes of these increases, and synthesize research on whether several established risk factors (e.g., age of pubertal transition and stressful life events) and novel risk factors (e.g., digital technology and social media) meet conditions necessary to be plausible causes of increases in adolescent internalizing conditions. We conclude that there are a multitude of potential causes of increases in adolescent internalizing conditions, outline evidence gaps including the lack of research on nonbinary and gender nonconforming populations, and recommend necessary prevention and intervention foci from a clinical and public health perspective.

Keywords: Adolescence; anxiety; depression; gender difference; internalizing.

Figure 1

Meta-regression estimates of the depression gap between adolescent girls and boys over time. Source: Platt et al. (2021)

Figure 2

Criteria for a hypothesized risk factor to be a cause of the gendered increase in adolescent depression