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An Examination of Gender Differences in Adolescent Adjustment: The Effect of Competence on Gender Role Differences in Symptoms of Psychopathology

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Abstract

Numerous studies have documented gender differences in psychopathology; girls generally report more internalizing symptoms and boys generally report more externalizing symptoms. These gender differences are partially accounted for by the gender-typed personality characteristics of boys and girls. This study was designed to investigate how gender roles influence symptoms of psychopathology by examining the mediating effects of self- and peer-rated competencies. Using a multiple regression approach to path analysis with a sample of primarily White, middle-class high school students, gender roles significantly predicted symptoms of psychopathology and mediated the gender differences in those symptoms. In addition, the adolescents' self- and peer-rated competence in various domains helped to explain the effect of gender roles on symptoms of psychopathology. Specifically, self-rated social attractiveness and global self-worth fully mediated the relation between instrumentality (i.e., masculinity) and internalizing symptoms. Global self-worth and both self- and peer-rated achievement/conduct partially mediated the relation between expressivity (i.e., femininity) and externalizing symptoms. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee

    Melissa L. Hoffmann

  2. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

    Kimberly K. Powlishta

  3. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois

    Karen J. White

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  1. Melissa L. Hoffmann
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  2. Kimberly K. Powlishta
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  3. Karen J. White
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Correspondence to Melissa L. Hoffmann.

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Hoffmann, M.L., Powlishta, K.K. & White, K.J. An Examination of Gender Differences in Adolescent Adjustment: The Effect of Competence on Gender Role Differences in Symptoms of Psychopathology. Sex Roles 50, 795–810 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000029098.38706.b1

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