Models of responsibility and depression in unemployed young males and females

Group Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Depression and the Interaction of Demographic Variables

Response levels of 92 depressed subjects with differing demographic profiles to a standardized small-group CBT intervention were examined. Findings were based on combined groups wherein adults participated in 12 two-hour skill-building sessions conducted in 8-week periods. Participants were assessed for levels of depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and social adjustment at pre- and post-test, and 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months following treatment. The intervention was effective in the treatment of unipolar depression for all groups, and demographic variables were found to have various significant functional relationships with treatment outcome. Gender combined with marital status, and the separate results of education level, employment status, and income level all indicate different treatment effects.

Gender and racial correlates of personal control among emotionally disturbed older adults

Black and white community-dwelling women and men over sixty-five years of age, all of whom had been referred for psychotherapy, were interviewed to determine their perceived control (internal vs. external) over the causes and solutions to their problems. Personal control orientations were found to vary both by race and by gender. Men perceived themselves as having more control over causes than did women, but women perceived themselves as having more control over solutions than did men. Blacks perceived themselves as more responsible both for causes and solutions than did whites. Of the four groups studied, white females saw themselves as having the least control over the causes of their problems, but those perceiving higher levels of control over causes were most depressed. White males saw themselves as having the least control over solutions, but those with higher levels of perceived control had lower levels of depressive symptomatology.