how do adolescents define depression? - cIRcle - University of ...

Chapter V: Discussion
reported more mildly negative states daily (Larson & Lampman-Petraitis, 1989). Keating (1990)
suggests that from early adolescence, cognition tends to involve abstract, self-reflective, self-
aware, and multidimensional interpretations. This has been shown in adolescents' range of
COAD in both grades.
Gender Distribution of COAD Units
Girls provided significantly more definitions of depression than boys and contributed a
greater range of different conceptions of depression. These findings reflect gender comparisons
where adolescent girls more than boys report more adversity in their lives (Goldberg & Goodyer,
2005; Goodyer, Tamplin, & Altham, 2000), are more self-reflective and aware of inner states
(Allgood-Merten et al., 1990), and are more likely than boys to identify emotional disorders in
themselves (Chen et al., 1998). As puberty emerges, and girls experience puberty earlier than
boys, the rate of depression increases and is twice as common for adolescent girls compared to
boys (DSM-V-TR; APA, 2000). This suggests that the way girls perceive their environment and
interpret it in relation to their personhood may be important (Goldberg & Goodyer, 2005).
Further, some studies report that depressed adolescent males tend to exhibit more externalizing
symptoms (observed behavior), whereas depressed adolescent females show more internalizing
symptoms (subjective) (Frydenberg, 1997). However, Goldberg and Goodyer (2005) report that
internalizing and externalizing disorders are only weakly correlated with one another (e.g.,
reflecting that it is possible to have an externalizing disorder, such as alcohol dependence, and
also be depressed). Taken together, girls are expressing their experiences in their greater number
and range of COAD.
Amidst the tipped balance in the direction of girls' greater number and range than boys'
contributions of different conceptions of depression, there were a couple of aberrations where the
boys generated COADs that produced different findings. Boys in grade 8 provided significantly
higher percentages than boys in grade 11, of conceptions of depression in Inner Pain, and higher
percentages than girls in both grade levels. This finding may be a window to boys' willingness to
express themselves in terms of depression more readily at lower grade level than at a higher one.
Hopelessness was another construct that was important to boys' definitions of depression at both
grade levels: boys generated higher COADs than girls in grade 8 and in grade 11. Although
assumptions cannot be made as to the meaning and importance of the constructs Inner Pain and
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