Psychosocial factors Psychosocial factors that may contribute to women's increased vulnerability to depression include the stress of multiple work and family responsibilities, sexual and physical abuse, sexual discrimination, lack of social supports, traumatic life experiences, and poverty. Several studies of depression among college students and within the Amish community of eastern Pennsylvania have shown no gender difference in the rates of depression, suggesting that greater social equality may help reduce the higher rates of depression in women. Women also appear to be more willing than men to admit feelings of depression and report past episodes of depression to physicians, perhaps also contributing to the gender difference in depression rates. Psychological make-up plays an important role in one's vulnerability to depression as well. Thus, women with low self-esteem, pessimistic views, and tendencies towards stress are prone to clinical depression.
Studies also indicate that sexual and physical abuse are major risk factors for depression.
Women are twice as likely as men to have experienced sexual abuse. A recent study found that three out of five of the women diagnosed with depressive illnesses had been victims of abuse. Although it was once thought that pregnancy was associated with low rates of mental illness in women, recent research reveals that 10 percent to 15 percent of women experience depression during pregnancy. There is a three-fold increase in risk for depression during or following a pregnancy among women with a past history of mood disorders. Once a woman has experienced a postpartum depression, her risk of having another reaches 70 percent.