Terrance J. Wade

Emergence of Gender Differences in Depression During Adolescence: National Panel Results From Three Countries

OBJECTIVE Although the gender gap in depression among adults is well established, the age at which this phenomenon appears during adolescence is less clear. To address this, the authors present a cross-national examination of the emergence of the gender gap in depression during adolescence using national longitudinal panel data from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. METHOD The two-wave, 1994-1996 Canadian National Population Health Survey uses a diagnostic measure across a 24-month interval, providing 12-month prevalence rates of major depressive disorder. The British Youth Panel measures depressive symptomatology across five annual waves beginning in 1995. The two-wave, 1995-1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health uses a measure of depressive symptomatology across a 12-month interval. RESULTS Females have significantly higher rates of depression for each sample overall. When samples are decomposed by age, the gender gap in depression consistently emerges by age 14 across all three national samples, irrespective of the measure used or whether categorical cutoffs or untransformed scale scores are used to assess depressive symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS There is a consistent pattern in the onset of the gender gap in depression at age 14 across all three countries and measures. This consistency provides important etiologic clues concerning underlying causes of depression and identifies at what age diagnosis, treatment, and intervention strategies should be directed.

Marital transitions and mental health

Most research identifies marital disruption as a precursor for poor mental health but is generally unable to discount the potential selection effect of poor mental health leading to marital disruption. We use data from nine annual waves of the British Household Panel Survey to examine social selection and social causation as competing explanations. Mental health is measured using the general health questionnaire. We examine mental health at multiple time points prior to and after a marital transition through separation or divorce and compare this process to those who experience widowhood. All groups transitioning out of marriage have a higher prevalence of poor mental health afterwards but for those separated or divorced, poor mental health also precedes marital disruption, lending support to both social-causation and social-selection processes. The processes both preceding and after the transition to widowhood differ, with increased prevalence of disorder centering around the time surrounding the death itself.

Major depressive disorder and marital transition among mothers: results from a national panel study.

This analysis employs a national panel study to examine the relationship between marital transition and depression among mothers within the framework of selection and causation processes. The data come from the two-wave, longitudinal National Population Health Survey (NPHS) by Statistics Canada collected in 1994 and again in 1996 focusing on women between 20 and 65 years of age with children living at home (N = 2169). Compared with mothers who remain married, mothers making the transition into single-parenthood had a significantly higher rate of major depression at Time 1, which increased, but not significantly, at Time 2. This suggests that a selection effect may explain the elevated levels of depression among mothers experiencing a marital disruption. Rates of depression among single-parent mothers making the transition into a marital relationship did not decrease significantly between waves nor did the rate differ significantly from stable single-parent mothers at Time 1 or Time 2, suggesting that movement into marriage is not a protective factor.

The influence of age on gender differences in depression: Further population-based evidence on the relationship between menopause and the sex difference in depression

Objective: This study tests the hypothesis that gender differences in depression diminish after menopause (around the age of 55). Methods Using the 1994 National Population Health Survey, we examine the relationship between age and gender on major depressive disorder in relation to sociodemographic and social covariates using contingency table analyses and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Contingency table and multivariate analyses identify significantly higher rates of depression among women before and after the age period associated with menopause. A series of multivariate analyses controlling for a broad array of social factors also does not lead to any convergence in differences of rates of depression between males and females. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not have a significant impact on these observed relationships. Discussion: These findings are at odds with a recent study that has identified menopause as a point where gender differences in depression diminish. Further research is required to address this inconsistency.

Single parent mothers and mental health care service use

Background This paper examines the use of mental health care services by single mothers and married mothers in Canada. Method We employ a secondary data analysis of the 1994–95 National Population Health Survey. Results Single mothers are significantly more likely to have seen a professional regarding their mental health in the previous 12 months and to use such services more frequently than married mothers. Multivariate analyses show that higher use among single mothers is independent of depression and sociodemographic factors. Further analysis revealed that single mothers have a higher rate of contact with professionals than married mothers and that the relationship between single parent status and frequency of contact is moderated by depression. Conclusion Single mothers are more likely to seek professional help for mental health issues. While qualifying for a diagnosis has some important conditional effects on the frequency of use among single mothers, neither major depression nor controlling for sociodemographic factors accounts for their higher use of services.

The Genesis of Adolescent Risk- Taking: Pathways through Family, School, and Peers*

This paper presents an empirical examination of Sampson and Laubs social control theory. It tests the effects of family structure, family attachment, school attachment and peer attachment on a generalized form of risk-taking behaviour which includes delinquency and drug use. The data come from a single stratified sample of 1,075 high school students in Ontario. The findings suggest that the effect of family attachment on risk-taking is moderated by both school and peer involvement. When family attachment is low, school attachment inhibits risk-taking and strong peer attachment reinforces it.

Delinquency and health among adolescents: Multiple outcomes of a similar social and structural process

1. IntroductionThemajorityofsocialscientificresearchtodaytendstobedisciplinespecific,concentratingupon distinct phenomena of interest and how individual and structural determinants influencethese phenomena. This is evident in research specializations as diverse as criminology andmental health. Each has progressed to theoretical positions that attempt to explain howunderlying factors contribute to specific outcomes. Within criminology, one of the dominantparadigms used to explain childhood misconduct, juvenile delinquency, adult crime, and risk-taking behavior — the control perspective — hypothesizes a causal relationship betweenstructural and social processes and the increased likelihood of antisocial consequences.These disciplines have been successful at laying the groundwork for understanding therelationship between social and structural processes and the discipline-specific outcome ofinterest. However, are these phenomena — mental health problems and delinquency —mutually exclusive or might they be multiple outcomes of similar underlying social andstructural processes? Recent epidemiological and clinical evidence reveals a tendency amongadolescents to manifest a clustering of delinquency, substance abuse, and mental healthproblems indicating that they may be associated with one another (Kessler et al., 1996;Steinhausen, Meier, & Angst, 1998; cf. Milin, 1996). This implies that these internalizingand externalizing behaviors may be multiple outcomes of similar structural and socialprocesses suggesting a need to move past a discipline-specific focus to investigate whetheradolescents who experience social and structural disadvantage are at risk for a multitude ofnegative outcomes.

Precursors, consequences and implications for stability and change in pre-adolescent antisocial behaviors

Although much of the evidence stresses the stability of dysfunctional behavior throughout the life cycle, other evidence suggests that stability of antisocial behavior is a matter of degree. In this work we determine the degree of stability of such behavior in preadolescence and how this is influenced by age, gender, social structures, and family processes. Also, we explore whether change in the level of antisocial behavior impacts upon other important developmental regimes such as health and educational performance. We use a large, 2 wave, nationally representative sample of preadolescent children, and focus on children 4–9 years of age at wave 1 (n = 6,846). We employ a cluster analysis across a series of behavioral variables to determine levels of antisocial behavior and then examine the stability of antisocial behavior over time and identify the precursors and consequences associated with movement into and out of these behavioral clusters. Antisocial behavior is more stable in boys and older children. Structural factors—age of the mother, number of children in the household, and having a single parent—along with family factors—hostile parenting and maternal depression—raise the likelihood of increases in and lower the likelihood of decreases in antisocial behavior, although there are notable differences by gender of the child and initial level of antisocial behavior. Consequences of change in antisocial behavior include scholastic performance, high levels of school mobility, school–parent contacts, and health perceptions. The implications of these findings for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.