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Stressful life events: Moderators of the relationships of gender and gender roles to self-reported depression and suicidality among college students

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Abstract

The present study examined whether relationships of self-reported depression and suicidality to gender roles or gender are moderated by the type of stressful life events that individuals experience. The focus was on events in stereotypic male (achievement) versus female (interpersonal) domains. This study of 290 women and 247 men undergraduates employed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire and a measure of recent negative life events. In the presence of high achievement stress, high masculinity was related to low suicidality for men. In the presence of high interpersonal stress, high femininity was related to low self-reported depression for women. These findings were interpreted as consistent with the androgyny model of adjustment. However, independent of gender roles, high interpersonal stress was related to high self-reported depression more strongly among women than among men. Suicidality was related to interpersonal events for women and achievement events for men. These findings were interpreted as consistent with the self-schema model of depression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, USA

    Lynn C. Waelde, Louise Silvern & William F. Hodges

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  1. Lynn C. Waelde
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  2. Louise Silvern
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  3. William F. Hodges
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Additional information

The authors gratefully acknowledge Jane Karyl and Ann Shields for substantial assistance with data collection and management and Michael L. DeKay for assistance with data analysis. The following individuals assisted with data collection and other phases of the study: Joanne Starek, Robert Wilking, Haur Khar Khaba, Rochelle Dalla, Kristin Iverson, and Michele LeClaire.

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Waelde, L.C., Silvern, L. & Hodges, W.F. Stressful life events: Moderators of the relationships of gender and gender roles to self-reported depression and suicidality among college students. Sex Roles 30, 1–22 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01420737

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