Interpersonal stress
Interpersonal stress not only may be more prevalent in girls than in boys, but also may have different consequences. A large body of evidence confirms a link between life stress and maladaptive developmental outcomes, including anxiety, depression, behavior problems, and substance abuse. Although some research has indicated that girls experience higher levels of emotional distress in response to stress, other research has not revealed gender differences in stress reactivity.
Elucidating gender differences in the association between stress and psychological distress may require distinguishing among specific types of stress. In particular, stress within an interpersonal context may be an especially strong risk factor for emotional distress. Relationships with both family and friends serve a variety of functions, including the provision of emotional support, instrumental guidance, companionship, intimacy, and opportunities for self-disclosure and self-validation, and may act as a buffer against stressful life experiences. Relationships also provide a context for the formation of beliefs about the self and the world, the development of emotion regulation capacities, and the growth of interpersonal competencies.
Data on women’s depression from the interpersonal-context perspective should make it clear that treatment of depression must focus not just on symptoms and syndromes, but also on her environment and underlying social vulnerabilities. Reduction of depressive symptoms is, of course, vitally important, but in remaining in the same context and faced with the same challenges and resources, depression is highly likely to recur. It should be clear that since depression may contribute to impaired
Much of the conceptual challenge of an interpersonal–contextual perspective on women’s depression arises from difficulties in studying transactions among multiple individuals and environmental factors over time. This dynamic, ever-changing, and complex process is rarely captured in linear models of stress-precipitating depression, because it may be assumed that individuals are changed by their own experiences, as well as by others and events around them.
Hammen, C. (2003). Interpersonal stress and depression in women. Journal of affective disorders, 74(1), 49-57. Retrieved from: https://surl.li/ynylsy
Rudolph, K. D. (2002). Gender differences in emotional responses to interpersonal stress during adolescence. Journal of adolescent health, 30(4), 3-13. Retrieved from: https://surl.li/ojzskw
Clarke, A. T. (2006). Coping with interpersonal stress and psychosocial health among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of youth and adolescence, 35, 10-23. Retrieved from: https://surl.li/jhahqn