Sex differences in subclinical depression: administration of the Beck Depression Inventory in public and private disclosure situations.

To test the idea that the preponderance of women depressives is due to a masculine tendency to avoid negative social consequences by reporting fewer depressive symptoms, two studies were conducted in which the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to both sexes under conditions of public and private disclosure. It was hypothesized that men would score lower on the BDI than women in the public disclosure condition but not in the private disclosure condition. Despite procedural differences in the two experiments, the results of both studies failed to support the experimental hypothesis. However, in each case, analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction between sex of subject and sex of examiner (p less than .05). These results are discussed in terms of a willingness to admit more symptoms to a same-sex person due to fear of rejection by the opposite sex and in terms of gender-specific patterns of self-disclosure in first-encounter heterosexual situations. Results of both studies also suggest BDI scores of college students can be interpreted without regard to type of administration.