Page 29 - Violence and Mental Health

Gender differences in depression scores

The Mann-Whitney U Test revealed a significant difference in the prevalence of depressive
symptoms by gender (p=0.023). Females (mean rank = 87.75) were more depressed than

males (70.96). This concludes that gender plays a role in youth’s experience of depressive
symptoms.

Table 3: Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms by Gender

The impact of educational level on participant’s symptoms of depression
When Primary/All age and secondary education levels were analysed, the Mann Whitney

U test revealed significant differences (p=.024) where persons with Primary/All Age
education were more depressed (mean rank = 105.64) than those with Secondary/High

school education (mean rank = 69.73).

Table 4: Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms by Educational Level

Employment status and the prevalence of depressive symptoms

Five levels of employment were entered into SPSS: full-time; part-time; self-employed;
unemployed; student. When all five categories were analysed, there was no significant

difference in prevalence of depressive symptoms (p=.399). Employment status was
recoded to analyse only employed and unemployed respondents. Although the Mann-

Whitney U test revealed no significant difference (p=.081), it is still worthy to note that
unemployed respondents were slightly more depressed than employed respondents.

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