Gender differences in adolescent depression: Gender-typed characteristics or problem-solving skills deficits?

This study explored gender differences in depressive symptoms during adoles cence in relation with gender-typed characteristics, problem-solving abilit ies, and stressful life events. Participants were 306 white French-speaking adolescents (142 men and 164 women) from upper middle-class families enrol led in a high school in the Trois-Rivieres area of Quebec. Participants ran ged in age from 14 to 17 years, with a mean age of 15.3 years (SD = .95). T hey completed the French versions of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), t he Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), the Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI), and the Life Event Questionnaire (LEQ) during a regular class. Depressed partic ipants distinguished themselves from nondepressed participants on all varia bles except for expressivity. Instrumentality was negatively correlated wit h depression for boys and for the total sample. Scores on all three subscal es of the PSI correlated with depression, and with scores on the LEQ, with the exception of "In the Last Year" subscale for boys. A path analysis was conducted using scores on the BDI as the dependent variable. Subjective pro blem-solving abilities act as a mediating variable between instrumentality and depression. Instrumentality, expressivity, and problem-solving abilitie s explained a significant portion of the variance of the BDI.