The preponderance of females in the depressed population is a well established fact. Various hypotheses for this fact are reviewed and the hypothesis that females accepting the feminine role will be more likely to become depressed during their middle years than a more androgenous woman is submitted. To support this hypothesis a study was designed utilizing a Clinical group consisting of females, 35 to 50 experiencing depression and undergoing treatment for depression at one of three mental health centers and a Non-clinical group consisting of women, same age group, not experiencing depression and who had never undergone treatment for depression. Each subject was asked to complete a questionnaire to measure depression and femininity. Results of this study support the hypothesis that depression in middle-aged females is related to the degree of their acceptance of the traditional feminine role. Depression as defined and measured by Beck's Depression Inventory was positively correlated with femininity as measured by Bern's Sex-Role Inventory. The Pearson correlation coefficient for these two measures was .62 (p < .001), indicating that 38% of the variance in depression scores can be accounted for by the sex-role variable.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:rtd-1451 |
| Date | 01 October 1979 |
| Creators | Tinsley, Emily Gaines |
| Publisher | University of Central Florida |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Retrospective Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Written permission granted by copyright holder to the University of Central Florida Libraries to digitize and distribute for nonprofit, educational purposes. |
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