Depressive symptomatology and the influence of the behavioral avoidance and activation: A gender-specific investigation.

Background: Depression is a highly prevalent disorder which is usually considered as differentially experienced depending on gender. Behavioral theories of depression pinpoint the importance of the behavioral avoidance in the maintenance of depression. However, little is known about the specific impact of the behavioral avoidance and activation on each depressive symptom as well as on gender differences on the behavioral features of depression.

Methods: This study's aim was two-fold: (1) to assess the presence of gender differences on the BDI-II; (2) to investigate the respective predictive value of behavioral avoidance and of behavioral activation on each depressive symptom assessed by the BDI-II depending on gender. Community adults and adults attending mental healthcare composed the sample.

Results: Results showed differences in symptomatology profiles depending on gender (e.g. higher scores of sadness, self-criticalness in women, higher scores of past failure and loss of pleasure in men). Behavioral avoidance positively predicted almost all depressive symptoms in women and in men while behavioral activation negatively predicted almost all symptoms in both gender. Nevertheless, the strengths of these relationships were different for some symptoms (e.g. pessimism).

Limitations: The use of self-report instruments; the lack of assessment of causal or precipitating factors of the depressive symptomatology; the higher number of women in the sample.

Conclusions: Results are discussed with respect to previous findings and present clinical implications: (1) to underline the relevance of the combination of gender-specific assessment tools; (2) to highlight the need of tailored psychological intervention.