GENDER-ROLE SOCIALIZATION AND ADOLESCENTS REPORTS OF DEPRESSION - WHYSOME GIRLS AND NOT OTHERS

Previous research has noted a greater rate of depression among adolesc ent girls than boys (A. C. Petersen et al. [1993]; ''Depression in Ado lescence,'' American Psychologist, Vol. 48, pp. 155-168; S. Nolen-Hoek sema [1987] ''Sex Differences in Unipolar Depression,'' Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 101, pp. 259-282). Explanations for this gender differe ntial in adolescent reports of depressive symptomatology have been the focus of past scholarly attention (Petersen et al, 1993; D. B. Kandel and M. Davies [1982] ''Epidemiology of Depressive Mood in Adolescents , '' Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 39, pp. 1205-1232). Little i s known, however, about factors that underlie individual differences i n adolescent girls' reports of depression. In this study, we explored individual differences in depressive symptoms as a function of young a dolescent girls' gender role orientations (i.e., level of masculinity) and the degree of sex typing in their parents' marital roles. Partici pants were 89 seventh- and eighth-grade girls from white, rural, marit ally intact families. Results revealed that girls who rated themselves as more masculine and their parents' marriage as more egalitarian wer e significantly lower in depression than other girls. Results of this study suggested that the potential positive effects of person characte ristics associated with mental well-being (i.e., high masculinity) wer e moderated by family context (i.e., traditional families).