Gender Differences in Causes of Depression

This study adopts a stress process perspective to analyze gender differences in the causes of depression. The stress process links psychological well-being to position in the social structure via the mediating and moderating effects of stressors and resources. The study examines stressors and resources as mediators of the SES/depression relationship, and resources as moderators of the stressor/depression relationship. Furthermore, it tests the hypotheses that women are more exposed and more vulnerable to stressors than are men, that women benefit more psychologically from socially supportive relationships, and suffer more from conflict-ridden relationships than men. The analysis utilizes survey data of urban Nevadans age 45-74, collected in the Fall of 1997, and employs ordinary least squares regression to test the stress process model. The results indicate that financial strain and perceptions of danger in one's neighborhood mediate the relationship between SES and depression, but resources do not moderate the effects of stressors on depression. Women are more exposed to stressors than men, but are not more vulnerable to them. Positive social relationships do have more beneficial psychological effects for women than for men, but the effects of marital conflict do not vary by gender. Implications for social policy and treatment for depression are discussed.