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Chapter IV: Results
than 5% of participants were Loss of Interest or Pleasure, Biological, Escaping Reality, Somatic
Symptoms, and Bored/Indifferent. These categories and subcategories were omitted from further
analyses rather than merged with other remaining larger categories because these constructs
depicted participants' specific descriptors of depression, and reliabilities using Cohen's kappas
were already established for the categories. Subsequent analyses were carried out on the 14
categories and 15 subcategories that were generated by five or more percent (> 5%) of the
participants. A total of 1,077 COAD units were generated by five or more percent of adolescents
at least once for the remaining 14 categories.
Summary
Girls significantly more often than boys, and 8 th graders more often than 11 th graders,
defined an average number of COAD units generated at least once. Girls generated a wider range
of different constructs than boys. However, although the 8th graders generated on average more
COAD units than the 11 th graders, the grade 11 students had a wider range of COAD units than
the grade 8 adolescents.
Depressed Mood (n = 287, 86.4%) and Social Impairment (n = 228, 68.7%) were the two
categories most referred to in adolescents' definitions of depression (see Table 12 or Table Y-2
in Appendix Y). The next four categories lagging behind the first two categories were: Low Self-
Worth (n = 87, 26.2%); Contextual/Causal (n = 73, 22.0%); Suicidal (n = 69, 20.8%); and
Anxiety Symptoms (n = 65, 19.6%). The six least referred to categories (including the categories
mentioned by < 5% of participants) were: Biological (n = 8, 2.4%); Loss of Interest or Pleasure
(n = 10, 3.0%); Escaping Reality (n = 10, 3.0%); Feel Trapped (n = 19, 5.7%); Substance Use (n
= 20, 6.0%); and Masking/Stigma (n = 24, 7.2%). 1 7
In keeping with the high percentage of participants providing COAD units that referred to
Depressed Mood and Social Impairment, 12 out of the 15 subcategories were clustered within
these two categories. The six subcategories most referred to were: Sadness (n = 209, 63.0%);
Behavioral Disconnection (n = 140, 42.2%); Irritability (n = 120, 36.1%); Lonely (n = 117,
35.2%); Perceived Disconnection (n = 71, 21.4%); and Depressed Appearance (n = 58, 17.5%).
In contrast, the subcategories that participants defined least commonly (including the
17 See Methodology Chapter for definitions of these categories.
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