BALTIMORE – There may be a link between romantic relationship anxiety and depression, and surprisingly, this association appears stronger in teenage boys than girls, Carl Weems, Ph.D., wrote in a poster presentation at a biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence in Baltimore.
Dr. Weems and coinvestigator Natalie Costa used two scales, the Experience in Close Relationships test and the Depression Symptom Checklist-90, to measure relationship anxiety and depression in 189 adolescents.
Participants were aged 13–19 years (mean age, 15 years), and 66% were female. Sixty-one percent were Hispanic, 27% were African American, and 12% were of other races.
The results showed that relationship anxiety was significantly associated with depression but was less strongly tied to depression in girls and more strongly linked to depression in boys.
Both genders had comparable relationship anxiety scores.
“A possible explanation is that it is more normative and accepted for girls to have relationship anxiety, whereas it is less normative and accepted for boys. When boys experience relationship anxiety, it may be more salient and more related to psychopathological symptoms,” Dr. Weems wrote.
Longitudinal research could establish whether relationship anxiety precedes depression, or vice versa.