A Comparative Analysis of Depressive Symptomatology among Adolescent Male and Female Students

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a unique period in the life cycle of an individual that presents special challenges and opportunities for him/her. Importance is attached to this phase of life because many vital activities take place during this period which set the stage for future. For adolescent population, on one hand they have many opportunities for proving themselves and developing their self-identities, while on the other hand they have to face a large number of potentially stressful circumstances. Life ahead for them is tough and filled with multiple challenges. A time may come when the adolescent may feel stuck in the cycle of never ending complexities, largely out of their control, giving rise to serious physio-psycho-social health issues. Depression is one such issue with alarming incidences among adolescents (Joseph, 2011; Lewinsohn, Joiner, & Rohde, 2001; Newman et al., 1996; Birmaher et al., 1996; Lewinsohn, Rohde & Selley, 1993; Petersen et al., 1993; Reynolds, 1992, Kosky et al., 1990; Brent et al., 1988; Pfeffer et al., 1988; Myers, Burke, & McCauley, 1985; Robbins & Alessi, 1985; Friedman et al., 1984). Frequency of depression increases dramatically during adolescence (Hankin, 2006; Waaktaar et al., 2004; Twenge, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2002; Harrington, 2001; Lewinsohn, Joiner, & Rohde, 2001; Angold, Costello, & Worthman, 1998; Devine, Kempton & Forehand, 1994; Weissman et al., 1991). Depression, which is an exaggeration of a normal negative mood, is often defined as a prolonged state of unhappiness or feeling down accompanied by somatic and cognitive alterations including the incidences of temper outbursts, nervousness and fear, in addition to changes in appetite, body weight, sleep, self-worth and motor efficiency leading to recurrent thoughts of death (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, 2000, 1994). Thus depression is associated with various types of psychological, behavioural and physical symptoms, disabilities and premature deaths as well. Depression is considered as a serious health condition, even more than physical illness, as it drastically hampers normal activities of daily life and other productive tasks (Wagner et al., 2012). Thus, depression can have damaging and negative effects on the social and cognitive functioning of adolescents (Sharma & Pandey, 2017; Cruz, Mastos, & Marques, 2015; Haines, Norris & Kashy, 1996; Kovacs & Goldstone, 1991).

1. To study and compare the mean scores of depression among adolescent male and female students of Kashmir.

adolescent male and female students on depression.

The sample for the present study consisted of 500 adolescent students (250 male and 250 female) studying in various high and higher secondary schools of Kashmir Division. Multistage random sampling procedure was used to select the sample districts, educational zones, schools and sample subjects.

► Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale-Second Edition (2002) was administered on the sample subjects to measure their depressive symptomatology.

The data collected was subjected to the following statistical treatment: 1. Mean

2. S.D.

3. t-test.

In order to achieve the objective formulated for the present study, the data collected has been tabulated as under.

The information presented in the table 1.0 shows the mean comparison of adolescent male and female students on depression. The mean value of adolescent male students is 95.75 and that of female students is 97.13. The mean difference favours the female students. The calculated t-value (1.99) exceeds the tabulated t-value at 0.05 level of students reporting more depression. Thus from the confirmation of the results, the hypothesis no. 1 which reads as, “There is no significant difference between adolescent male and female students on depression”, stands rejected.

The results of this study are in line with the findings of Jha et al. (2017) who revealed that the prevalence of depression is higher in girls than boys. Shawaz, Sandhya & Venkatara (2015) in their study revealed that female students reported higher scores on depression, anxiety and stress as compared to their male counterparts. Ghaedi & Kosnin (2014) revealed that the level of depression among female students is much more frequent as compared to males. Amr et al., (2013) found that females experience more depression and anxiety than males. Busari (2012) revealed that adolescent female students are more depressed than adolescent male students. Yousefi et al. (2010) results showed that teenage girls outnumber boys in terms of feeling depressed. Adlina et al. (2007) study also found that secondary school female students are more depressed than males. Hazler and Mellin (2004) reported that female adolescents experience more depression than male adolescents. Hankin & Abramson (2001) observed that adolescent girls have higher level of depression than boys. Bishop, Bauer & Becker (1998) also found that female students feel more depressed than male students.

It has been found that adolescent female students experience more depression when compared with adolescent male students. Thus, it is quite obvious from the results of present study that symptoms of depression are more prevalent among female adolescent students and as such they are more likely to suffer from mood disorders than their male counterparts.

Soe, S. A., Ariff, F., Narimah, A. H., Nuraliza, A. S., & Karuthan, C. (2007). Pilot Study on Depression among Secondary School Students in Selangor. The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 62(3), pp. 218-22. American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition). Washington, DC: Author. Amr, M., Amin, T. T., Sahoo, S., Malki, S. A., Samail, M. A., Qahtani, N. A., AbdulHadi, A. A., & Shoaibi, A. A. (2013). Depression and anxiety among Saudi University students: Prevalence and correlates. The Arab Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 1-7. Angold, A., Costello, E. J., & Worthman, C. M. (1998). Puberty and depression: The roles of age, pubertal status, and pubertal timing. Psychological Medicine, 28, pp. 51-61. Birmaher, B., Ryan, N. D., Williamson, D. E., Brent, D. A., Kaufman, J., Dahl, R. E., Perel, J. & Nelson, B. (1996). Childhood and adolescent depression: A review of the past 10 years. Part I. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(12), pp. 1427-1439. Bishop, J. B., Bauer, K. W., & Becker, E. T. (1998). A survey of counselling needs of male and female college students. Journal of College Student Development, 39, pp. 205-210. Brent, D. A., Perper, J. A., Goldstein, C. E., Kolko, D. J., Allan, M. J., & Allman, C. J. (1988). Risk factors for adolescent suicide. A comparison of adolescent suicide victims with suicidal inpatients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, pp. 581-588. Busari, A.O. (2012). Evaluating the Relationship between Gender, Age, Depression and Academic Performance among Adolescents. Journal of Education, 1(1), pp. 6-12. Adolescents: The Moderation Effect of Negative Life Events. Paper presented in 9th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, Madrid, Spain. Devine, D., Kempton, T., & Forehand, R. (1994). Adolescent depressed mood and young adult functioning: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, pp. 629–640. Friedman, R. C., Corn, R., Aronoff, M. S., Hurt, S. W. and Clarkin, J. F. (1984). The seriously suicidal adolescent: Affective and character pathology. In Suicide in the young H.S. Sudak, A.B. & Ford, N.B. Rushforth (Eds.). Boston: John Wright PSG Inc. (pp. 209-226). Ghaedi, L. & Kosnin, A. B. M. (2014). Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Students: Gender and Age Differences. International Journal of Psychological Research, Volume 7, Issue 2. Haines, M. E., Norris, M. P., & Kashy, D. A. (1996). The effects of depressed mood on academic performance in college students. Journal of College Student Development, 37(5), pp. 519–526.

Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2001). Development of gender differences in depression: An elaborated cognitive vulnerability-transactional stress theory. Psychological Bulletin, 127, pp. 773-796. Harrington, R. C. (2001). Depression, suicide and deliberate self-harm in adolescence. British Medical Bulletin, 57, pp. 47-60. Hazler, R. J., & Mellin, E. A. (2004). The Developmental Origins and Treatment Needs of Female Adolescents with Depression. Journal of Counselling and Development, Vol. 82, No.1, pp. 18. Jha, K. K., Singh, S. K., Nirala, S. K., Kumar, C, Kumar, P, & Aggrawal, N. (2017). Prevalence of Depression among School-going Adolescents in an Urban Area of Bihar, India. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 39(3).

Current Research, 3(11), pp. 439-442. Kosky, R., S. Silburn, & Zubrick, S. R. (1990). Are Children and Adolescents Who Have Suicidal Thoughts Different from Those Who Attempt Suicide? The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 178(1), p. 38. Kovacs, M., & Goldstone, D. (1991). Cognitive and social cognitive development of depressed children and adolescents. Journal for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, pp. 388-392. Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., & Fischer, S. A. (1993). Age-cohort changes in the lifetime occurrence of depression and other mental disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, pp. 110-120. Lewinsohn, P. M., Joiner, T. E. J., & Rohde, P. (2001). Evaluation of cognitive diathesis-stress models in predicting major depressive disorder in adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110(2), pp. 203-215. Myers, K. M., Burke, P., & McCauley, E. (1985). Suicidal behaviour by hospitalized preadolescent children on a psychiatric unit. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 24, pp. 474-480. Newman, D.L., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., Magdol, L., Silva, P.A., & Stanton, W.R. (1996). Psychiatric disorder in birth cohort young adults: Prevalence, comorbidity, clinical significance, and new case incidence from ages 11-21. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, pp. 552-562. Petersen, A. C., Compas, B. E., Brooks, J., Stemmler & Grant, K. E. (1993). Depression in adolescence. The American Psychologist, 48(2), pp. 155-168. Pfeffer, C. R., Lipkins, R., Plutcwm, R., L., & Mizruchi, M. S. (1988). Normal children at risk for suicidal behaviour: A two-year follow-up study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, pp. 34-41. Robbins, D. R., & Alessi, N. E. (1985). Depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior in adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, pp. 588-592.

Reynolds, W. M. (2002). Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (2nd Edition). Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc; 2002.

Sharma, G. & Pandey, D. (2017). Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in Relation to Academic Achievement among Higher Secondary School Students. International Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 4, Issue 2, No. 87. Twenge, J. M., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2002). Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort differences on the Children's Depression Inventory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, pp. 578–588. Waaktaar, T., Borge, A. I. H., Fundingsrud, H.P., Christie, H. J., & Torgersen, S. (2004). The role of stressful life events in the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence: A longitudinal community study. Journal of Adolescence, 27(2), pp. 153–163. Weissman, M. M., Bruce, M. L, Leaf, P. L, Florio, L. P., & Holzer, C. (1991). Affective disorders. In L. N. Robins & D. A. Regier (Eds.), Psychiatric disorders in America (pp. 33-53). New York: The Free Press. Wagner, A. F., Gonzalez, C., Sanchez, S., Garcia, C., & Gallo, J. (2012). Focusing the depression as a problem of public health in Mexico. Mental Health, 53, pp. 3-11. Yousefi, F., Mansor, M. B., Juhari, R. B., Redzuan, M., & Talib, M. A. (2010). The Relationship between Gender, Age, Depression & Academic Achievement. Current Research in Psychology, 6 (1), pp. 61-66.

Doctoral Research Scholar, School of Education & Behavioural Sciences, University of Kashmir, J&K (India)