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| Summer 1999 issue | . | When Girls Turn Blue | |
LINKS: Notre Dame's Department of Psychology
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 Girls suffer from depression twice as often as
boys, and no one is sure why. But a study led by Notre Dame psychology professor David A.
Cole gives an indication as to when the depression gap between boys and girls
becomes significantly wide: around seventh grade. The three-year study of 800 third- through eighth-graders also found that starting in fourth grade, boys display more self-confidence than girls about their performance in school. Boys tend to attribute their failures to bad luck, the difficulty of a task, or not trying hard enough. Girls are more likely to think they just don't have the ability to do better. Psychologists wish they knew the source of that defeatist attitude. It could be the previously documented tendency of parents, teachers and even friends to interact differently with girls, often expecting less of them. Sometimes the interactions are subtle, like teachers not waiting as long for answers from girls as they do for boys. Cole's advice: Maintain high expectations for girls. "We do them a disservice by expecting less of them." |
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