Gender Differences in Self-Reports of Depression: The Response Bias Hypothesis Revisited

Abstract

This study was designed to revisit the response bias hypothesis, which posits that gender differences in depression prevalence rates may reflect a tendency for men to underreport depressive symptoms. In this study, we examined aspects of gender role socialization (genderrelated traits, socially desirable responding, beliefs about mental health and depression) that may contribute to a response bias in self-reports of depression. In addition, we investigated the impact of two contextual variables (i.e., cause of depression and level of intrusiveness of experimental follow-up) on self-reports of depressive symptoms. Results indicated that men, but not women, reported fewer depressive symptoms when consent forms indicated that a more involved follow-up might occur. Further, results indicated differential responding by men and women on measures of gender-related traits, mental health beliefs, and beliefs about depression and predictors of depressed mood. Together, our results support the assertion that, in specific contexts, a response bias explanation warrants further consideration in investigations of gender differences in rates of self-reported depression.

Social desirability bias in self-reported well-being measures: evidence from an online survey

“…With regard to the results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses, socio-demographic variables show that being female, not married/ cohabitant, less educated, and unemployed tend to lower subjective well-being, as demonstrated in previous studies (Lucas et al, 2004;Myers, 2000;Piccinelli & Wilkinson, 2000;Sigmon et al, 2005;Watson et al, 2010). Instead, age does not seem to play any role.…”

“…This is in order to test whether social desirability has incremental validity in predicting some wellbeing measures. Indeed, there are known sociodemographic differences in rates of subjective well-being, which is higher in males (Piccinelli & Wilkinson, 2000;Sigmon et al, 2005) and tends to decline with age and to increase with higher standards of education (Watson, Pichler, & Wallace, 2010). Then, married people are consistently shown to be happier than those who are divorced, widowed, or single (Myers, 2000); while unemployed people generally have permanent and significant decreases in life satisfaction levels (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2004).…”

Resilience and Distress: Israelis Respond to the Disengagement from Gaza and the Second Lebanese War

“…These findings could reflect greater concern on the part of women about the political/security situation (Zeidner 2007) due to the threat to family safety and wellbeing, with women affected more by this specific stressor. Alternatively, women may be better than men in identifying anxiety, and more candid about reporting negative emotions such as anxiety and depression (Sigmon et al 2005).…”

Men's Views on Depression: A Systematic Review and Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research

“…However, according to the concept of "male depression," men may experience atypical depressive symptoms including irritability, aggression, hostility, substance abuse, as well as increased risk behavior [2][3][4][5] . There is evidence that men show more externalizing symptoms, and this may hinder detection in primary care settings, since conventional depression screening instruments are not sensitive to these male-specific symptoms [3,6] . Martin et al [7] report that gender disparities in the prevalence of depression vanish when male-type symptom screening is combined with traditional depression screening instruments.…”