Why is the sex gap in feelings of depression wider in high gender equity countries? The effect of children on the psychological well-being of men and women
Abstract
This study uses data from 23 countries in the World Values Survey and the National Survey of Families and Households and finds that the sex gap in feelings of depression is wider in high gender equity societies even though overall levels of feelings of depression are lower. Using hierarchical logistic modeling, we find that the sex difference in feelings of depression is wider in high gender equity societies because children increase depression for women in high gender equity societies, while they reduce depression for women without paid employment in low gender equity societies. There is little difference in the effect of children on feelings of depression for men across societies.
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In old analyses, females have more symptoms, diagnoses, or feelings of depression in countries with higher living conditions.
“Considering studies from only the old analyses, we found that females have more symptoms, diagnoses, or feelings of depression in countries with higher living conditions (Hopcroft & Bradley, 2007; Hopcroft & McLaughlin, 2012; Salk et al., 2017; Seedat et al., 2009; Van de Velde et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016).”
From A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox (2025) · cites this paper as Hopcroft & McLaughlin, 2012
Females have higher rates of depression than males in most studies, with SMDs of 0.19-0.38.
“As has often been reported, females have in most studies been found to have higher rates of Depression (SMDs = 0.19–0.38; Hopcroft & Bradley, 2007; Hopcroft & McLaughlin, 2012; Salk et al., 2017; Seedat et al., 2009; Van de Velde et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016).”
From A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox (2025) · cites this paper as Hopcroft & McLaughlin, 2012
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Men, women and STEM: Why the differences and what should be done?
Stewart-Williams, S., & Halsey, L. G. (2021) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1177/0890207020962326 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox
Herlitz, A., Hönig, I., Hedebrant, K., & Asperholm, M. (2025) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916231202685 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“Six studies, all in the old analyses, investigated Depression (Hopcroft & Bradley, 2007; Hopcroft & McLaughlin, 2012; Salk et al., 2017; Seedat et al., 2009; Van de Velde et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016).”
Influential
- Authors
- Hopcroft, R. L., & McLaughlin, J.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hopcroft, Rosemary L.
- Venue
- Social Science Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 501-513
- ISSN
- 0049-089X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1982802282
- Cited by
- 82
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- gender equity, children, psychological well-being, women's employment, gender roles, cross-national comparison
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