TY - JOUR PY - 2019// TI - Gender differences in depression literacy and stigma after a randomized controlled evaluation of a universal depression education program JO - Journal of Adolescent Health A1 - Townsend, Lisa A1 - Musci, Rashelle A1 - Stuart, Elizabeth A1 - Heley, Kathryn A1 - Beaudry, Mary Beth A1 - Schweizer, Barbara A1 - Ruble, Anne A1 - Swartz, Karen A1 - Wilcox, Holly SP - 472 EP - 477 VL - 64 IS - 4 N2 - PURPOSE: Depression is a debilitating illness with frequent onset during adolescence. Depression affects women more often than men; men are more likely to complete suicide and less likely to seek treatment. The Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP) is a school-based depression intervention that educates adolescents about depression symptoms and addresses accompanying stigma. The study aims examined gender differences in the ADAP's impact on depression literacy and stigma.

METHODS: Data came from a randomized trial (2012-2015). Six thousand six hundred seventy-nine students from 54 schools in several states were matched into pairs and randomized to the intervention or wait-list control. Teachers delivered the ADAP as part of the health curriculum. Depression literacy and stigma outcomes were measured before intervention, 6 weeks later, and at 4 months. Multilevel models evaluated whether gender moderated the effect of ADAP on depression literacy and stigma.

RESULTS: At 4 months, there was a main effect of the ADAP on depression literacy (odds ratio [OR] = 3.3, p =.001) with intervention students achieving depression literacy at higher rates than controls. Gender exhibited a main effect, with women showing greater rates of depression literacy than men (OR = 1.51, p =.001). There was no significant intervention × gender interaction. The ADAP did not exhibit a significant main effect on stigma. There was a main effect for gender, with women demonstrating less stigma than men (OR =.65, p =.001). There was no significant interaction between the intervention and gender on stigma.

CONCLUSIONS: The ADAP demonstrates effectiveness for increasing rates of depression literacy among high school students. In this study, gender was not associated with ADAP's effectiveness.

Copyright © 2018 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1054-139X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.10.298 ID - ref1 ER -