BACKGROUND: Depression symptomatology was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in a sample of Jewish adolescents, in order to compare the frequency and severity of depression with non-Jewish adolescents as well as examine gender difference of the expression of depressive symptomatology. METHOD: Subjects comprised 475 students from Jewish private schools, aged 13-17 years, who were compared with an age-matched non-Jewish sample (n=899). Kendall's definition was adopted to classify these adolescents according to level of depressive symptoms. The frequency of depression was calculated for ethnicity, gender and age strata. Discriminant analysis and principal component analysis were performed to assess the importance of depression-specific and non-specific items, along with the factor structure of the BDI, respectively. RESULTS: The overall mean score on the BDI in the Jewish and the non-Jewish sample was 9.0 (SD=6.4) and 8.6 (SD=7.2), respectively. Jewish girls and boys had comparable mean BDI scores, contrasting with non-Jewish sample, where girls complained more of depressive symptoms than boys (p<0.001). The frequency of depression, adopting a BDI cutoff of 20, was 5.1% for the Jewish sample and 6.3% for the non-Jewish sample. The frequency of depression for Jewish girls and boys was 5.5% (SE=1.4) and 4.6% (SE=1.5), respectively. On the other hand, the frequency of depression for non-Jewish girls and boys was 8.4% (SE=1.2) and 4.0% (SE=1.0), respectively. The female/male ratio of frequency of BDI-depression was 1.2 in the Jewish sample, but non-Jewish girls were twice (2.1) as likely to report depression as boys. Discriminant analysis showed that the BDI highly discriminates depressive symptomatology among Jewish adolescents, and measured specific aspects of depression. Factor analysis revealed two meaningful factors for the total sample and each gender (cognitive-affective dimension and somatic dimension), evidencing a difference between Jewish boys and Jewish girls in the symptomatic expression of depression akin to non-Jewish counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic-cultural factor might play a role in the frequency, severity and symptomatic expression of depressive symptoms in Jewish adolescents. The lack of gender effect on depression, which might persist from adolescence to adulthood among Jewish people, should be investigated in prospective studies.
BACKGROUND:Depression symptomatology was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in a sample of Jewish adolescents, in order to compare the frequency and severity of depression with non-Jewish adolescents as well as examine gender difference of the expression of depressive symptomatology. METHOD: Subjects comprised 475 students from Jewish private schools, aged 13-17 years, who were compared with an age-matched non-Jewish sample (n=899). Kendall's definition was adopted to classify these adolescents according to level of depressive symptoms. The frequency of depression was calculated for ethnicity, gender and age strata. Discriminant analysis and principal component analysis were performed to assess the importance of depression-specific and non-specific items, along with the factor structure of the BDI, respectively. RESULTS: The overall mean score on the BDI in the Jewish and the non-Jewish sample was 9.0 (SD=6.4) and 8.6 (SD=7.2), respectively. Jewish girls and boys had comparable mean BDI scores, contrasting with non-Jewish sample, where girls complained more of depressive symptoms than boys (p<0.001). The frequency of depression, adopting a BDI cutoff of 20, was 5.1% for the Jewish sample and 6.3% for the non-Jewish sample. The frequency of depression for Jewish girls and boys was 5.5% (SE=1.4) and 4.6% (SE=1.5), respectively. On the other hand, the frequency of depression for non-Jewish girls and boys was 8.4% (SE=1.2) and 4.0% (SE=1.0), respectively. The female/male ratio of frequency of BDI-depression was 1.2 in the Jewish sample, but non-Jewish girls were twice (2.1) as likely to report depression as boys. Discriminant analysis showed that the BDI highly discriminates depressive symptomatology among Jewish adolescents, and measured specific aspects of depression. Factor analysis revealed two meaningful factors for the total sample and each gender (cognitive-affective dimension and somatic dimension), evidencing a difference between Jewish boys and Jewish girls in the symptomatic expression of depression akin to non-Jewish counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic-cultural factor might play a role in the frequency, severity and symptomatic expression of depressive symptoms in Jewish adolescents. The lack of gender effect on depression, which might persist from adolescence to adulthood among Jewish people, should be investigated in prospective studies.
Authors: P Cohen; J Cohen; S Kasen; C N Velez; C Hartmark; J Johnson; M Rojas; J Brook; E L Streuning Journal: J Child Psychol Psychiatry Date: 1993-09 Impact factor: 8.982
Authors: Kate M Loewenthal; Andrew K MacLeod; Susan Cook; Michelle Lee; Vivienne Goldblatt Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2003-03 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Daniele E Alves; Espen Roysamb; Brit Oppedal; Henrik D Zachrisson Journal: Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health Date: 2011-11-17 Impact factor: 3.033