Pubertal development and the emergence of the gender gap in mood disorders: A developmental and evolutionary synthesis

Abstract

This book addresses mood and anxiety disorders in women. It takes a broad developmental approach, aimed at understanding and offering appropriate treatment for women with such disorders. The primary aim of this first chapter is to examine the emergence of the gender gap in depressive disorders at puberty, and to compare alternative theories as to the factors that underpin gender differentiation in depression at this developmental stage. These models are synthesised using an evolutionary perspective on gender differences to integrate the insights provided by socialisation, life stress, and biological models of pubertal development. Anxiety and anxiety disorders are addressed only peripherally..