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.

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