Gender Differences in Stress Generation: Examination of Interpersonal Predictors

Abstract

Researchers have consistently found that women are twice as likely to be depressed as men (as reviewed in Nolen-hoeksema & hilt, 2009). one possible mechanism for this relationship is that women experience more interpersonal stressful life events for which they played a part in their occurrence, a process called stress generation (hammen, 2003). The present study investigated two interpersonal predictors of depression-neediness and co-rumination-as mediators of the relationship between gender and stress generation. it was hypothesized that women would report higher levels of neediness and co-rumination, which would in turn predict the greater occurrence of interpersonal stress generation. Baseline levels of neediness and co-rumination were assessed in a sample of college students (N = 364), and depressive symptoms and frequency of dependent interpersonal stressors were assessed weekly for 8 weeks. hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze gender differences and mediation models predicting stress generation. Both neediness and co-rumination explained women's higher levels of stress generation. These findings provide additional evidence suggesting that the interpersonal domain is of particular importance when considering gender differences in stress processes and depression.Two consistent findings in depression research are (1) women are twice as likely to develop depression and experience depressive symptoms than men (e.g., Kessler et al., 2003; reviewed in NolenHoeksema & Hilt, 2009) and (2) stressful life events play a role in the

Life-stress and reactivity by gender in a longitudinal birth cohort at 30 and 35 years

“…The findings are consistent with a number of previous studies [2, 8, 15, 16, 28, 35-37, 42, 47, 52] which also showed that women had greater reactivity compared to Victimization and employment/finance problems were not included in the adjusted analyses due to the absence of statistically significant associations between these outcomes and gender in men across a number of life event domains of: interpersonal relationships [8,16,28,35,47]; family/home stressors [2,15,35,42,45,52] and health problems [29,35]. No statistically significant gender difference was found for victimization which is inconsistent with the literature [29,37].…”

“…First, this study employed a wide range of life event domains to examine gender differences in associations between life events and distress. In contrast, other studies have generally limited examination to specific life event domains such as: interpersonal relationship difficulties [8,16,28,47]; family and home stressors [2,42,52]; and serious health problems [45]. Comparison across domains within the same data set allows a more comprehensive examination of possible gender differences, with individuals serving as their own controls.…”

“…Gender differences in reactivity has also been explored across a number of domains with previous research showing evidence that female reactivity may be stronger than male reactivity. The domains have included: interpersonal stressors [8,28,47], victimization [29,37]; caregiving, pregnancy/parenting [42,45,52]; and chronic illness [29]. However, a number of issues require further consideration.…”

“…However, in a meta-analysis by Davis et al [16], it was concluded that after allowance was made for the additional burden of home responsibilities, women experience more stress in the work place. The inconsistencies reported in the literature may be due to studies which have focused on single life event domains or a limited number of domains such as: interpersonal relationship difficulties [8,16,28,47]; family and home stressors [2,42,52]; and serious health problems [45]. These studies are limited in the extent to which they can inform on other stressful life event domains.…”

Depressive Symptoms in Women and the Preference and Emotional Benefits of Discussing Positive Life Events

“…We did so because there is evidence that women's increased rates of depression may be accounted for, in part, by increased sensitivity to stress, particularly interpersonal stress (Bouchard & Shih, 2013;Oldehinkel & Bouma, 2011;Rose & Rudolph, 2006;Rudolph & Conley, 2005;Stroud, Salovey, & Epel, 2002). Thus, because the depression-interpersonal reactivity link is different (and stronger) for women than men, we focused exclusively on women in order to obtain a sample size sufficiently powered to test hypotheses.…”