Although one of the most consistent findings in research on depression is a higher prevalence among women, the origins of this sex difference remain unclear. This study examines the relationship of family and work roles to sex differences in depression. The data for the study consist of interviews from a large-scale community survey $(N = 1,000)$ on the epidemiology of depression, conducted in Los AngelesCounty during 1979. Overall, the women were significantly more depressed than the men, but the extent of the sex difference varied according to the specific constellation of family and work roles.
There were significant sex differences in depression among the two conditions of high family role demands: parents with children in the household, and single parents. The difference was not significant among parents whose children lived elsewhere, or among no parents. Among parents with children in the household, employed men were less depressed than either employed women or homemakers; these two groups of women did not differ significantly from each other in depression level. The results suggest that family and work roles tend to be associated with reduced depression among both men and women, but that the effect is greater for men.
Adolescent Adjustment
One study found that interracial adoptees fare sometimes better, sometimes worse, but overall about the same as their same-race adopted counterparts across the 12 adjustment measures investigated. These measures investigated indices of academic, familial, psychological, and health outcomes for 4 groups of interracial and same-race adopted adolescents. Specifically, interracial adoptees had significantly higher grades and significantly higher academic expectations but marginally more distant father relationships and higher levels of psychosomatic symptoms than their same-race adopted counterparts. Also, Asian adolescents adopted by White parents had both the highest grades and the highest levels of psychosomatic symptoms, whereas Black adolescents adopted by Black parents reported the highest levels of depression. On the other hand, Black adoptees reported higher levels of self-worth than non-Black adoptees.
Two Points of View
- Pro Interracial Adoption
A dichotomy exists in reference to the subject of interracial adoption. Critics of race matching say there is a darker side involving whites with lingering racist beliefs against mixing races. They argue that children are hurt most by the practice. “One of the problems with race-matching policies,” says Donna Matias, a lawyer with the Institute of justice, “is that it leaves the children in the system to wait. They are thrown into a vicious cycle where the chances plummet that they will ever get adopted [3].” Never getting adopted has been shown to have a negative impact on children. After aging out of foster care, 27% of males and 10% of females were incarcerated within 12 to 18 months. 50% were unemployed, 37% had not finished high school, 33% received public assistance, and 19% of females had given birth to children. Before leaving care, 47 percent were receiving some kind of counseling or medication for mental health problems; that number dropped to 21% after leaving care [4].
- Pro Race Matching
On the other hand, David Watts, a biracial social worker in New York who was raised by an adoptive white family. “It’s a bad idea to put a black child in a white home…. I think it’s impossible for someone of one culture to teach another culture,” he says. “You have to live it in order to absorb it.” The influential National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) has taken this stance, suggesting that interracial adoption is a form of “genocide” and that “black children in white homes are cut off from the healthy development of themselves as black people.” “Same race makes sense because it is what the child is accustomed to, what causes the least disruption in the child’s life,” says Toni Oliver, a chairman of the organization. “Often when people are looking at ‘love is all it takes,’ they seem to overlook the impact race has on our society. Somehow when it’s a case of adoption, race suddenly doesn’t seem to matter anymore
Tags: child depression Depression parent depression sex differences women depression
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