SEX AND DEPRESSION IN THE NATIONAL COMORBIDITY SURVEY .2. COHORT EFFECTS

Data from a nationally representative sample of the general population are used to study cohort differences in the prevalence of DSM-III-R M ajor Depressive Episode (MDE). We document increasing lifetime prevale nce of MDE among both men and women in more recent cohorts, but no maj or change in the sex ratio over the 40-year period retrospectively cov ered in the survey. We find a cohort difference in 12-month MDE, with older women much more likely than older men to have recurrent episodes . This sex difference in recurrence plays an important part in the ele vated 12-month prevalence of depression among women compared to men in the 45-54 age range.