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protective parents using poor child-rearing practices, especially if
fathers gave poor child care.
A large study of depressed adolescents (Kandel & Davies, 1982)
found these factors were sometimes involved: (1) low self-esteem, (2)
"acting out" anti-social behavior, (3) over-involvement with peer group
and little with parents, (4) over-involvement with parents and little
with peers, (5) authoritarian parents or "do-what-you-want" parents,
and (6) depressed parents. Adolescents, in general, are happier if they
have some pleasant involvement with peers and with parents who are
basically democratic and happy.
Coryell, Endicott, & Keller (1992) followed adults who had never
been diagnosed as mentally ill. Within 6 years, 12% developed major
depression. Younger persons (under 40) were three times more likely
to get depressed than were older people (yet, suicide goes up with
age). Going through a divorce doubles the chances of getting
depressed, especially for women. Women are diagnosed as depressed
twice as often as men. Higher education increases the risk for women
(not true in all studies) and decreases the risk for men. Women living
on farms are prone to depression. There are other gender differences.
Gender discrimination in depression
In adulthood, some studies have found that depression is most
likely to occur in unmarried women who are poor and have little
education. They are disadvantaged and have little control over their
lives so depression is not surprising.
Why are women more depressed then men? There are several
possibilities why 25% of women will be depressed sometime in their
lives, but only 10% to 15% of men. (Incidentally, 37% of women
psychologists will be depressed, so knowing about academic
psychology apparently doesn't help.) First of all, women are taught to
conform, to serve, and to please others in a society that truly values
and rewards self-serving individualism (if you aren't valued for doing
what you think is right, you suffer a loss). Within this context, about
50% of women are physically or sexually abused before age 21,
another 25+% are abused or coerced in later relationships, and 70%
are sexually harassed. 75% of all people in poverty are women with
children. Being a victim is, of course, depressing.
Also, an amazing thing happens at puberty. Before developing
sexually, boys are more likely to be depressed than girls, but
afterwards girls become twice as likely to be depressed and boys turn
to delinquency. Not all girls get depressed, however. Susan Gore at
University of Massachusetts reports that the adolescent girls who get
depressed tend to become over-concerned and over-involved
emotionally with their mothers' problems in a stressful home. Boys do
not show this sensitivity to and involvement in family problems. (For
one thing, depressed mothers interact less emotionally with sons than
daughters.) Moreover, research by Joan Girgus at Princeton suggests
