DEPRESSION COMBINED WITH SOMATIC SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG ADOLESCENT FEMALES WHO REPORT CONCERNS REGARDING MATERNAL ACHIEVEMENT

Recent research suggests that many females who mature during periods o f great change in women's roles develop, beginning at adolescence, dep ressive symptomatology combined with such somatic problems as headache , dyspnea, insomnia, disordered eating, and preference for thinness. I n this study of possible psychological mechanisms underlying the appar ently paradoxical development of such symptomatology during periods of increased opportunity for women, 20% of females attending a suburban high school reported concerns regarding the limited achievements of th eir mothers and the limitations being female had placed upon their mot hers. Compared to other female students, these respondents exhibited a greater correlation between depressive and somatic symptomatology and a higher prevalence of depression combined with somatic symptomatolog y. Prevalence of combined symptomatology was particularly high among r espondents who also reported paternal biases against females and among those who indicated concerns regarding the limitations that being fem ale had placed upon themselves.