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

Chapter V: Discussion
symptomatology. This result clarifies and broadens our view that varying dimensions of coping
with sadness are associated with lower levels of depressive symptomatology.
The final variable that contributed significantly to the severity of depressive
symptomatology was gender. This finding confirms previous studies where the rate of depression
emerges and increases in adolescent girls at about a 2 to 1 female-to-male ratio (Cairney, 1998;
Hankin et al., 1998; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994; Parker & Roy, 2001). This result further
reinforces the significant difference in depressive symptomatology between the boys and girls in
grade 11, a 6 to 1 girl-to-boy ratio in this study. This finding makes intuitive sense in that girls
have a higher ratio than boys in experiencing depression, girls are more likely to experience
internalizing symptomatology (Frydenberg, 1997; Gjerde, 1995; Schonert-Reichl, 1994), and
they more often report emotional disorders (Chen et al., 1998).
Another finding in this study, although not significant in the final analysis, was that
maturity in Social Perspective Coordination contributed to lower levels of depressive
symptomatology. This variable was significant in correlational analysis, and in the second of the
three steps in hierarchical regression analysis. However, when the emotion variables were added
in the third step of hierarchical regression analysis, the emotion variables overrode Social
Perspective Coordination. These findings suggest that Poor Emotion Awareness and Expressive
Reluctance of emotion are critical in predicting severity of depressive symptomatology. Maturity
in Social Perspective Coordination may well be interconnected with emotion understanding. This
consideration is strengthened by other researchers who report that social competence requires
emotion awareness and a willingness to express emotions (Halberstadt, Denham, & Dunsmore,
2001; Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002; Saarni, 1999; Zeman et al., 2006). Emotion awareness or
willingness to express emotion is essential for emotional competence (Halberstadt et al., 2001;
Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002; Saarni, 1999; Zeman et al., 2006), while the reluctance to express
emotions is critical in disrupting social relationships and can lead to psychopathology (Lane &
Schwartz, 1987; Saarni, 1999; Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002). Difficulties in managing emotion
can also be associated with poor social functioning (Shipman et al., 2003).
Most adolescents define Social Impairment and Depressed Mood as the two integral
concepts of adolescent depression. Depression is termed an emotional disorder (Goldberg &
Goodyer, 2005) or a mood disorder in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000). While DSM-IV-TR (APA,
2000) includes impaired functioning that involves social difficulties as one of its criteria in
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