Page No – 86-97
Sangeeta Bhatia and Shohag Dey
Gargi College, New Delhi University of Delhi, Delhi
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The present study examines gender difference in depression and the relationship
of these symptoms with the characteristic coping styles, appraisal of daily
hassles, sense of personal mastery and perceived social support. 30 male and
30 female subjects from the community were selected. Standardized
questionnaires such as Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression scale,
The Daily Hassles scale, Ways of Coping checklist, Personal Mastery scale,
Emotional Support scale and Scale of Social Participation were used to collect
data. Findings revealed a significant difference in the extent of depressive
symptoms between gender with females scoring higher scores. Female subjects
also showed a significantly higher use of wishful thinking strategy indicating
emotion focused coping styles. Also, they perceived more number of daily
hassles in the domains of health, household responsibilities, inner concerns
and time pressures. No significant gender difference emerged on the dimension
of perceived social support. Age and working status of women were not found to
be related to the coping style, experience of daily hassles, mastery or extent of
perceived social support.