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Gender differences in depression and anxiety across the adult lifespan: the role of psychosocial mediators

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Abstract

Background

There is robust epidemiological and clinical evidence that a greater number of women than men experience depression and anxiety. This study investigated a number of socio-demographic, health and lifestyle, psychological and social factors as possible mediators for the gender difference in depression and anxiety in three cohorts (20–24, 40–44, 60–64).

Methods

Responses were from a representative, community based survey (n = 7,485) conducted in Canberra and Queanbeyan (NSW), in Australia. Depression and anxiety were measured using the self-report Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scales. The analyses initially identified gender differences in the potential mediators, followed by univariate and multivariate mediation models.

Results

The results indicated several shared mediators for depression and anxiety across the three age groups including: childhood adversity, mastery, behavioural inhibition, ruminative style, neuroticism, physical health, physical activity, and perceived interpersonal and employment problems. There was a decrease in the number of social mediators as age increased. The multivariate models accounted for gender differences in both conditions for all age groups, except for anxiety in the 20–24 years old. This suggests further important unmeasured mediators for this age group.

Conclusions

These findings add to the literature surrounding gender differences in depression and anxiety, and provide a basis for future research exploring variation in these gender disparities over the adult lifespan.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by Program Grant no. 179805 from the national health and medical research council (NHMRC), Australia. Liana Leach is supported by NHMRC Public Health Postgraduate Research Scholarship no. S3451048. Helen Christensen is supported by NHMRC Fellowship no. 366781. Tim Windsor is supported by NHMRC Capacity Building Grant no. 418020. Peter Butterworth is supported by NHMRC Public Health (Australia) Fellowship no. 316970. We wish to thank Bryan Rodgers, Kaarin Anstey, Anthony Jorm and Perminder Sachdev (Chief Investigators for wave 1 of PATH) for their comments, as well as Trish Jacomb, Karen Maxwell and the PATH interviewers for assistance with the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Liana S. Leach, Helen Christensen, Timothy D. Windsor & Peter Butterworth

  2. Orygen Research Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Andrew J. Mackinnon

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  1. Liana S. Leach
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  2. Helen Christensen
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  4. Timothy D. Windsor
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Correspondence to Liana S. Leach.

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Leach, L.S., Christensen, H., Mackinnon, A.J. et al. Gender differences in depression and anxiety across the adult lifespan: the role of psychosocial mediators. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 43, 983–998 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-008-0388-z

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