Gender Differences in Depression in Representative National Samples: Meta-Analyses of Diagnoses and Symptoms

By Rachel H Salk, Janet S. Hyde, L. Abramson. Psychological bulletin, 2017

2,271 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In 2 meta-analyses on gender differences in depression in nationally representative samples, we advance previous work by including studies of depression diagnoses and symptoms to (a) estimate the magnitude of the gender difference in depression across a wide array of nations and ages; (b) use a developmental perspective to elucidate patterns of gender differences across the life span; and (c) incorporate additional theory-driven moderators (e.g., gender equity). For major depression diagnoses and depression symptoms, respectively, we meta-analyzed data from 65 and 95 articles and their corresponding national data sets, representing data from 1,716,195 and 1,922,064 people in over 90 different nations. Overall, odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.88, 2.03], and d = 0.27 [0.26, 0.29]. Age was the strongest predictor of effect size. The gender difference for diagnoses emerged earlier than previously thought, with OR = 2.37 at age 12. For both meta-analyses, the gender difference peaked in adolescence (OR = 3.02 for ages 13–15, and d = 0.47 for age 16) but then declined and remained stable in adulthood. Cross-national analyses indicated that larger gender differences were found in nations with greater gender equity, for major depression, but not depression symptoms. The gender difference in depression represents a health disparity, especially in adolescence, yet the magnitude of the difference indicates that depression in men should not be overlooked.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4ca45c532f893a7630b4334ca5a22532405d1149

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Citations in the corpus

The social determinants of mental health and disorder: evidence, prevention and recommendations (2024, background): “For example, wider gender gaps in depression have been observed in countries with higher levels of gender equality amongst both adults and adolescents 201,210 .”
Major depressive disorder: hypothesis, mechanism, prevention and treatment (2024, background): “446 Compared with male patients, female patients with MDD have symptoms that manifest sooner in the disease course, last longer, and are more severe; in addition, they experience hunger changes, weight ﬂ uctuations, and sleep dif ﬁ culties more frequently.”
Sexual dimorphism in cortical theta rhythms relates to elevated internalizing symptoms during adolescence (2024, unknown): “The specificity to girls may reflect their known earlier onset of puberty and heightened vulnerability to internalizing disorders compared to boys (Marceau et al., 2011; Salk et al., 2017).”