Reading 15: WHY WOMEN EXPERIENCE DEPRESSION MORE THAN MEN DO

READING 15

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 10 which are based on Reading 15.

WHY WOMEN EXPERIENCE DEPRESSION MORE THAN MEN DO

A         Researchers have known for years that women experience depression more often than men do, but the reason for this gender difference has not been clear. A new study, published in the November issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, provides some answers by showing how social conditions and personality characteristics affect each other and contribute to the gender differences in depressive symptoms.

B         In the study, psychologists Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., and Carla Grayson, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan and Judith Larson, Ph.D., of Atherton, CA, interviewed 1,100 adults between the ages of 25 and 75 years old from three ethnically diverse California cities. Results suggest that women may more often than men get caught in a cycle of despair and passivity because of the interaction of lower mastery (lower sense of control) over important areas of life and more chronic strain and rumination (chronically and passively thinking about feelings). For these women, more chronic strain led to more rumination over time, and more rumination led to more chronic strain over time.

C         The study's authors say the chronic strain the women in the study reported were "the grinding annoyances and burdens that come with women's lower social power. Women carried a greater load of the housework and child care and more of the strain of parenting than did men." The authors also found women felt less appreciated by their partners than men did.

D      "Rumination may maintain chronic strain because it drains people of the motivation, persistence, and problem-solving skills to change their situations," said the authors. "Failing to do what one can to overcome stressful situations such as an unfulfilling marriage or an inequitable distribution of labor at home perpetuates these situations." While this study cannot answer the question of which comes first, rumination or chronic strain, the researchers say the interaction of the two makes it more difficult to overcome either one.

E          So what is a depressed woman, under chronic strain and ruminating or lacking a belief that she can control her life, to do? The authors conclude "helping women achieve a greater sense of control over their circumstances and engage in problem solving rather than ruminating should be useful. Changing the social circumstances that many women face so that they do not have so much to ruminate about is equally important."

Questions 1 - 5

Choose the appropriate letters A – D and write your answers in boxes 1 - 5 on your answer sheet.

1. According to this study, which of the following factors are responsible for the gender differences in differences in depressive symptoms?

A. women and men.

B. researchers and APA.

C. social conditions and personality characteristics

D. psychologists and their studies conducted in relation to the men and women.

2. The study …

A. focused on three psychologists - Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., and Carla Grayson, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan and Judith Larson, Ph.D., of Atherton, CA.

B. involved 1,100 adults and lasted for three years in California.

C. interviewed 1,100 adults between the ages of 25 and 75 years old from three different countries.

D. interviewed 1,100 adults who are in the age range of 25 -75.

3. According this study,

A. women did more housework and contributed more to the care of children, yet they felt that their partners were not so thankful to them as they were to their partners.

B. women carried a greater load of the housework and child care, and their partners were very thankful to them.

C. men did not do housework, nor did they care for the children, yet still they were not thankful to their wives.

D. men felt very thankful to their partners, because the women did more housework and also took care of the children.

4. The reason that it is difficult to solve the problem of rumination and chronic strain is that

A. first, rumination causes chronic strain, which again results in more rumination.

B. first, chronic strain causes rumination, which again results in more chronic strain.

C. researchers still do not know the causes of the two situations.

D. the two forces work together, thus difficult to get rid of anyone of them.

5. In order to help depressed women, the authors suggest

A. we should help them have more control of their circumstances and let them solve the problems themselves.

B. they should achieve a better sense of control over their circumstances and engage in problem solving skills, and have their social circumstances changed.

C. they should control their husbands rather than ruminating.

D. they should change their social circumstances instead of ruminating.

Questions 6 – 10

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer(s) in the reading passage. In boxes 6 – 10 on your answer sheet write:

YES                      if the statement agrees with writer

NO                        if the statement contradicts the writer

NOT GIVEN        if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

6. Researchers know that women experience depression more often than men do, but they do not have a definite answer to this gender difference until this new study is carried out.

7. The depressive symptoms demonstrated by women seem to be in a cycle rather than in a simple cause and effect relationship.

8. Rumination drains people of the motivation, persistence, and problem-solving skills to change their situations, that is why it may maintain chronic strain.

9. Changing the social circumstances of women so that they do not have so much to ruminate about is also helpful to reduce their depression.

10. The study will help to provide effective treatment to women who suffer from depression.