Gender Trajectories of Adolescent Depressed Mood: The Dynamic Role of Stressors and Resources

This research examines how gender variation in the trajectory of stressors and resources during high school shapes gender variation in the trajectory of depressed mood. Boys have steeper gains in depressed mood than girls during high school. Adolescents with increasing levels of school or work strain and declining levels of parental support or mastery were more likely to have an increasing trajectory of depressed mood; the effect of chronic work was stronger for boys than girls. Steeper declines in parental support and gains in work strain among boys relative to girls explain boy’s faster rate of increase in depressed mood during high school. Roughly 30% of adolescents report moderate to severe depressive symptoms (Rushton, Forcier, & Schectman, 2002) and levels of depressive symptoms appear to increase throughout adolescence (Ge, Conger, & Elder, 2001). Depressed mood is an important public health concern. Depressive symptoms are the strongest predictor of suicidal ideation which, in turn, predicts suicide attempts (Kandel, Raveis, & Davies, 1991). Sui138 C. Fal C i i n St r eS S Pr oc e S S e S a c r o S S th e Li f e cou r S e (2008) cide is the fourth leading cause of death among 10-14-year olds in the United States and the third leading cause of death among 15-24-year olds (Anderson, 2001). The presence of depressed mood in adolescence also has important life course consequences. The early occurrence of depression in adolescence sets a foundation for recurrent and severe depressive episodes later in life (Belsher & Costello, 1988; Kovacs, Feinberg, CrouseNovak, Paulauskas, & Finkelstein, 1984). Furthermore, as adolescents transition into adulthood, their parenting and work performance can be impeded by depression (Anderson, Kohler, & Letiecq, 2005; Downey & Coyne, 1990; Vredenburg, Krames, & Flett, 1986). For these reasons it is important to know why, and for whom, levels of depressed mood tend to increase during adolescence. Both adolescent girls and boys are likely to experience gains in depressed mood during adolescence (between the ages of 10 and 20); however, the rate of increase in depressed mood during adolescence and the timing of the increase in depressed mood within adolescence may vary by gender. Gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms emerge around age 13, with adolescent girls reporting higher levels of depressive symptoms than boys (Ge et al., 2001; Wichstrøm, 1999). This gender difference emerges because the rate of growth in depressive symptoms increases at a faster rate among girls in early adolescence (between age 10 and 14) compared to boys. For adolescent boys, in contrast, significant gains in depressed mood appear to occur in later adolescence (beginning around age 14) rather than early adolescence (Ge et al., 2001). Thus, previous empirical research suggests that the timing of the increase in depressed mood may vary by gender, with girls experiencing their steepest gains in depressed mood during early adolescence and boys experiencing their steepest gains in later adolescence. If this is true, we might expect girls to enter high school with higher levels of depressive symptoms but see a narrowing of the gender gap during the high school years. In other words, even if boys maintain lower levels of depressed mood throughout high school, the difference between girls and boys may decrease over time. Consistent with this idea, studies on young adults, i.e., beyond the high school years, suggest that the gender gap declines as adolescents transition into young adulthood (Galambos, Barker, & Krahn, 2006; Needham, 2007). I expect the gender gap in depressed mood to decline during high school. This can only occur if the trajectory of depressed mood during high school varies by gender. Using a longitudinal random sample of 766 white adolescents living in the Midwest the current research investigates how and why Ge n d e r Tr aj eC To r i e s o F ad o l esC en T dep r e s s ed Mo o d 139 the magnitude of the gender gap in depressed mood changes during high school. To understand why the magnitude of the gender gap may change during this time, concepts from a life course perspective are incorporated into the stress process model of mental health and illness. Utilizing a longitudinal design, I conceptualize stressors and resources as dynamic developmental processes that shape the trajectory of depressed mood. This research will focus on three developmental properties in adolescence likely to influence the trajectory of depressed mood: parental support, chronic role strain and mastery. I expect gender differences in the trajectories of these stressors and resources during high school and gender variations in the effect of these stressors and resources on depressed mood to explain gender differences in the trajectory of depressed mood during high school. Dynamic Stressors and Resources In Adolescence The adolescent phase in the life course is likely to be characterized by a high level of developmental change or discontinuity. The shifting nature of social relationships with parents, an intense period of self-concept formation, and the expanding number of social roles adopted by adolescents should lead to considerable changes in psychosocial resources and stress exposure throughout adolescence. Moreover, these developmental changes are likely to vary by gender. There is limited empirical evidence as to how parental support, stress exposure and mastery change during adolescence, but there are compelling theoretical arguments to expect both discontinuity and gender variations in these factors during high school. During adolescence, parental support is likely to decline (Buist, Deković, Meeus, & van Aken, 2001; Polce-Lynch, Myers, Kliewer, & Kilmartin, 2001). Parents and adolescents often have to negotiate an adolescent’s desire for autonomy and independence from parents and parents’ attempts to manage the pace of adolescent self-sufficiency (Steinberg, 1987). These negotiations can produce high levels of parentadolescent conflict (Arnett, 1999), which may coincide with declining closeness to parents (Larson & Richards, 1991). Even without overt parent-adolescent conflict, parents may withdraw from their adolescents’ lives in order to give them more autonomy, or adolescents may push their parents away to attain greater independence. Either circumstance could lead to the perception of declining social support from parents. These declines in parental support might occur more rapidly for adoles140 C. Fal C i i n St r eS S Pr oc e S S e S a c r o S S th e Li f e cou r S e (2008) cent boys compared to girls, since parents often expect more autonomy and independence from sons than daughters (Pomerantz & Ruble, 1998). Adolescent boys might also be more inclined to push their parents away as they attempt to conform to masculinity norms (Chu, 2005). Mastery is likely to increase during adolescence. Over the life course, perceived control follows a curvilinear pattern, with increasing levels in adolescence through young adulthood and declining levels in later life (Mirowsky & Ross, 2007). On average, gains in mastery might occur because adolescents are given, or insist on, greater autonomy and independence from parents in carrying out their day-to-day lives (Ryan & Lynch, 1989). Higher levels of autonomy and independence should correspond with increasing opportunities to engage in performance accomplishments, the primary route for developing self-efficacy (a concept similar to mastery) (Bandura, 1997). Indeed, longitudinal research on another related construct, locus of control, provides preliminary support for the hypothesis that mastery increases during high school (Chubb, Fertman, & Ross, 1997). The rate of increase in mastery, however, might be faster for boys relative to girls during high school. Parents tend to treat their sons and daughters differently (Raley & Bianchi, 2006). Compared to daughters, mothers tend to give sons more freedom and independence, encourage sons to do things on their own, and attribute sons’ accomplishments to positive internal qualities (Raley & Bianchi, 2006; Pomerantz & Ruble, 1998). These studies suggest that boys are given greater opportunity to develop high levels of mastery relative to girl, because boys will have more opportunities and encouragement to engage in successful performance accomplishments. If this is true, then levels of mastery should increase at a faster rate for boys than girls during high school. Cross-sectional research shows that adolescent boys tend to report higher levels of mastery than girls in high school (Bergman & Scott, 2001; Marcotte, Alain, & Gosselin, 1999). Stress exposure is likely to increase during adolescence. Using an index of 25 undesirable life events, Ge, Lorenz, Conger, Elder, and Simons (1994) found that stressful life events increased between age 9 and 20 on a sample of adolescents living within intact families. The current study focuses on gains in chronic role strain. The number of social roles an adolescent occupies often expands during adolescence, which may increase the possibility of experiencing chronic role strain and/or role conflict. For example, as adolescents get older they are more likely to begin work for pay and possibly increase the intensity of work over time Ge n d e r Tr aj eC To r i e s o F ad o l esC en T dep r e s s ed Mo o d 141 (Mortimer, Finch, Owens, & Shanahan, 1990). At the same time, existing roles, such as that of student, may take on new meaning. As adolescents approach high school graduation, they often experience increasing pressure to be successful academically (Lee & Larson, 2000). Therefore, chronic strain from the social roles of student and worker are likely to increase during high school. There may also be gender variations in the trajectories of chronic strain during high school. Chronic work strain might increase at a faster rate for boys compared to girls during high school. Research suggests that the intensity of work (number of hours and stress exposure) increases more for boys than girls with each subsequent job in an adolescent’s early work career (Mortimer et al., 1990). In contrast, chronic school strain might increase at a faster rate for girls. Girls are also more likely than boys to graduate from high school and enroll in college (NCES, 2007). These trends suggest the possibility that girls may put increasingly more academic pressure on themselves as they approach high school graduation compared to boys. Previous cross-sectional research using a Norwegian sample of adolescents found that girls experienced more school pressure than boys (Murberg & Bru, 2004). Overall, adolescence is likely to be a time of considerable discontinuity in stressors and resources and the developmental trajectories of stressors and resources may vary by gender during high school. Specifically, parental support might decline and work strain might increase faster for boys than girls. In contrast, school strain might increase at a faster rate and gains in mastery may not be as steep for girls compared to boys. Gender Differences in the Trajectory of Depressed Mood Developmental changes in stressors and resources should provide insight into the increasing levels of depressed mood during adolescence. Adolescents who experience gains in chronic role strain, fail to maintain socially supportive relationships with parents, and fail to develop high levels of mastery are likely to have an increasing trajectory of depressed mood during adolescence (Avison & McAlpine, 1992; Cornwell, 2003; Lee & Larson, 2000; Meadows, Brown, & Elder, 2006; Mortimer, Harley, & Staff, 2002; Wenz-Gross, Siperstein, Untch, & Widaman, 1997). Since the developmental trajectories for parental support, mastery and chronic role strain are likely to vary by gender, discontinuity in resources and 142 C. Fal C i i n St r eS S Pr oc e S S e S a c r o S S th e Li f e cou r S e (2008) stressors should also provide insight into why the trajectory of depressed mood might vary by gender during high school. Stress process researchers attempt to understand social status differences in health outcomes in two ways. First, the mean level of resources and stressors tend to vary across social status characteristics (Aneshensel, 1992; Pearlin, 1989). The social status group with higher levels of stressors and fewer resources will have higher levels of depressed mood (Turner & Avison, 2003; Turner & Lloyd, 1999). Among adolescents, gender differences in the self-concept, with adolescent boys reporting higher levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy, explains a substantial portion of the gender differences in depressive symptoms (Avison & McAlpine, 1992). Gender differences in social support and stressful life events do little to explain lower levels of depressed mood among adolescent boys, because adolescent girls tend to report higher levels of social support and boys tend to report a higher number of stressful life events (Avison & McAlpine, 1992; Meadows et al., 2006). Second, the effect of stressors and resources on health outcomes can vary across social status characteristics (Aneshensel, 1992; Pearlin, 1989). The differential effects of resources or stressors on health outcomes can either exacerbate or fail to produce social status group differences in mental health outcomes. For example, the tendency for women to report more stressful life events happening to loved ones and for these network events to have a stronger impact on women’s well-being exacerbates gender differences in depressive symptoms among adults (Kessler & McLeod, 1984). Some research has found that, among adolescents, stressful life events have a stronger effect on depressive symptoms for girls than for boys (Ge et al., 1994; Meadows et al., 2006). It is unclear if similar findings will result when considering chronic role strain, which is a focus of the current research. Gender differences in the effects of chronic role strain on depressed mood may depend on the type of role stressor, such as work or school. Specifically, whether or not the role of student and worker are identity-relevant stressors for both boys and girls to the same degree (Thoits, 1991). If role identity salience or commitment to work or school varies by gender, then we would expect the effect of chronic work and school strain on depressed mood to vary by gender, respectively. Role strains connected to role identities with higher salience or commitment tend to exacerbate the ill effects of role strain on well-being (Marcussen, Ritter, & Safron, 2004). The effect of resources, such as parental support and mastery, on depressed mood may also vary by gender. Previous research finds that mother support has a stronger effect on depressed mood among adolesGe n d e r Tr aj eC To r i e s o F ad o l esC en T dep r e s s ed Mo o d 143 cent girls than boys (Avison & McAlpine, 1992; Meadows et al., 2006). Selfesteem has been shown to have a stronger effect on adolescent girls’ depressive symptoms than boys (Bolognini, Plancherel, Bettschart, & Halfon, 1996). An analogous gender difference may occur for the effect of mastery on depressed mood. The current study will explore gender variation in the effect of chronic role strain, parental support and mastery on depressed mood. The current study adds a third important social status group comparison. I assess how the growth rate of stressors and resources vary by gender. It is gender differences in the growth rate of stressors and resources during high school that will lead to the augmentation of or reduction in the gender gap for depressed mood during high school. It is important to distinguish between group differences in means and group differences in the growth rate because the rank order of group differences can stay the same over time even though the magnitude of the social status gap might change. For example, it is hypothesized that adolescent boys will consistently report lower levels of depressed mood each year in high school than girls, but the magnitude of the gender gap will reduce because depressed mood will increase at a faster rate among adolescent boys than girls during high school. It is also important to distinguish between mean level differences and differences in the growth rate because mean level differences in stressors and resources can explain gender variation in depressed mood at one point in time, but variation in the growth rate will explain why gender variation in depressed mood changes over time. Gender variation in the growth rate of stressors and resources could help explain why the gender gap declines during high school. If, as hypothesized, adolescent boys experience greater increases in work strain and greater declines in parental support than girls, then accounting for this variation should reduce gender differences in the trajectory of depressed mood during high school (Cornwell, 2003; Ge et al., 1994). At the same time, if, as hypothesized, adolescent boys experience steeper gains in mastery and less steep gains in school strain relative to girls, then this should correspond with less steep gains in depressed mood for adolescent boys relative to girls. Accounting for this variation may increase gender differences in the trajectory of depressed mood during high school. Thus, controlling for gender variation in the trajectories for chronic strain, parental support and mastery could both reduce and augment gender differences in depressed mood during high school. Overall, then, hypothesized gender variations in the trajectories of stressors and resources do not privilege one gender over the other. In 144 C. Fal C i i n St r eS S Pr oc e S S e S a c r o S S th e Li f e cou r S e (2008) some instances, adolescent girls may have more advantaged resources (e.g., parental support) and less disadvantageous stressors (e.g., work strain). In other instances, adolescent boys may have more advantaged resources (e.g., mastery) and less disadvantageous stressors (e.g., school strain). For this reason it is important to take into account a variety of stressors and resources to understand how and why the trajectory of depressed mood differs by gender during high school. At the same time, the extent to which these hypothesized gender variations in developmental trajectories alter the gender differences in the trajectory of depressed mood will depend on gender variation in the effect of these stressors and resources on depressed mood.