Is the US Gender Gap in Depression Changing Over Time? A Meta-Regression.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7910653 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-6256 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00029262 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Epidemiol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Cary, NC : Oxford University Press
Original Publication: Baltimore, School of Hygiene and Public Health of Johns Hopkins Univ.

Health Status Disparities* ; Sex Factors*; Depression/*epidemiology; Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Regression Analysis ; United States/epidemiology ; Young Adult

The depression gap refers to higher rates of depression among women than men. Change in the depression gap over time might elucidate social causes of this disparity-such as unequal college attendance or employment status. We conducted a meta-regression analysis to estimate variation in the depression gap over time by age, accounting for potential sources of variation between studies. Electronic databases and bibliographies were searched for English-language studies from January 1980 through October 2019; 144 independent estimates from US-representative samples met selection criteria (n = 813,189). The depression gap was summarized as prevalence ratios among studies using diagnostic instruments and as standardized mean differences among symptom-based studies. Primary study measures were baseline study year (range, 1982-2017) and age (age groups ranging, in years, from 10-59 and 60 or older). Compared with respondents aged ≥60 years, depression prevalence was greater among respondents aged 10-19 (prevalence ratio = 1.26, 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 1.56). Over time, the depression gap did not change among adults, but it increased among adolescents (age-by-time interaction prevalence ratio = 1.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.08). Results were similar for symptom-based studies. The present study finds no evidence of a change in the depression gender gap for US adults; however, the gap increased among adolescents. Greater attention to factors driving this widening disparity in adolescent depression is needed.
(© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Comment in: Am J Epidemiol. 2021 Jul 1;190(7):1207-1209. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwab003. (PMID: 33423056)

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R01 AA026861 United States AA NIAAA NIH HHS; R01 MH103291 United States MH NIMH NIH HHS; R01 MH106482 United States MH NIMH NIH HHS; R37 MH119194 United States MH NIMH NIH HHS

Keywords: United States; depression; depressive symptoms; gender; health disparities; time trends

Date Created: 20210110 Date Completed: 20210831 Latest Revision: 20240816

20240816

PMC8484777

10.1093/aje/kwab002

33423055