Thus, the third model is most often accepted as closest to reality. Although clear gender-differentiated biological changes do occur in early adolescence, there is little evidence that these biological changes contribute directly to the emergence of the gender difference in depression. This thinking originally emerged through observations that at least some women tended to become depressed during periods of rapid shifts in the levels of these hormones, such as during the premenstrual period. On the other hand, society's reaction to the gender-differentiated biological changes of adolescence may play a role in the differing rates of depression for males and females. These society-driven reactions relate to differences in biological changes, social conditions, and societal expectations.
Girls value the physical changes that accompany puberty much less than boys do.
Furthermore, menstruation can produce feelings of uneasiness in adolescent girls, who, as it is, go through more chronic dieting and hold more negative images of their own bodies than do boys. This difference is important, because the former style may amplify and prolong depressive symptoms, thus leaving females more vulnerable to a depressive state. Furthermore, stereotypes that have been constructed over time and applied to females, such as passivity, helplessness, and dependence, are attributes consistence with a depressive image. Thus, construction of gender differences coincides, at least at some point, with the development of ideas concerning depression, and thus leads to speculation that societal factors play perhaps the most important roles in the differentiation of depression according to gender. Obvious social challenges more often confront females than males in adolescence.