Low socioeconomic status brings with it many concerns and stressors, including uncertainty about the future and less access to community and health care resources. Money and power issues contribute to feelings of passivity, negativism and lack of self-esteem, all of which contribute to depression. In addition, women are more likely to be sexually abused as children (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2006). And victims of sexual abuse are more likely to experience depression at some point in their lives than are those who weren't abused. This means that female undergraduates who were sexually abused have a higher incidence of depression than their male counterparts.

This paper aims to analyze some of the fundamental cultural links to women's depression in college, and compare depression rates of females to males.

Hypothesis

While most experts agree that understanding gender differences in depression is important, many believe that it is also important to study the contexts in which differences in emotion expression and experience occur. For example, Shields (2000) stressed that researchers need to look into why, and in what contexts, gender differences occur.

This paper hypothesizes that gender role socialization practices may play a key role in understanding the gender differences in depression. "Gender socialization practices" describes how gender differences in depression may be due to coping styles or traits, response bias, and beliefs that one holds about mental health and depression. Due to societal influences, men and women...

Women may be more likely to report depressive symptoms because they have been taught to share their emotions and experiences and have gotten positive feedback when they did so. Men may be more likely to hold these emotions and experiences internally and may also be less likely to report depression. This paper aims to prove that additional research is needed to understand the conditions under which gender differences occur.
Bibliography

William E. Kelly, http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qa=Kathryn+E.+Kelly" Kathryn E. Kelly, http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qa=Franklin+C.+Brown" Franklin C. Brown, http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qa=Hillary+B.+Kelly" Hillary B. Kelly. (March, 1999). Gender Differences in Depression Among College Students: A Multi-Cultural Perspective.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). (September 20, 2006). Depression in women: Understanding the gender gap. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/MH/00035.html.

Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan; Girgus, Joan S. (May, 1994). The Emergence of Gender Differences in Depression During Adolescence. Psychological Bulletin. Vol 115(3), 424-443.

Shields, S.A. (2000). Thinking about gender, thinking about theory: Gender and emotional experience. In a. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 3-23). New York: Cambridge University Press.