GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN ADOLESCENCE - COMPARISONOF NATIONAL SAMPLES OF CLINICALLY REFERRED AND NONREFERRED YOUTHS

Gender differences in depressed mood, a syndrome of mixed anxiety-depr ession, and an analogue of major depressive disorder were compared in parents' and adolescents' reports in 2 large, demographically matched national samples of clinically referred and nonreferred adolescents. R eferral status accounted for the greatest share of the variance in the se problems. Gender differences were moderate in size and consistent i n referred youths, with referred girls scoring higher than referred bo ys on all measures, whereas gender differences in nonreferred adolesce nts were either nonsignificant or small in magnitude. Gender differenc es were also larger in magnitude in adolescents' self-reports than in parents' reports. The interaction of age and gender was nonsignificant in all analyses. Implications for understanding the extent of gender differences in adolescents' depressive symptoms are highlighted.