[Development and Preliminary Validation of a Gender-Sensitive Depression Screening (GSDS)]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychological Assessment
• Men's Mental Health

Background:

• Depression screening tools often lack gender sensitivity, potentially underdiagnosing men.
• Traditional scales may not capture the unique ways men experience and express depressive symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a gender sensitive depression screening (GSDS) scale tailored for identifying depression in men.
• To improve the accuracy of depression detection in male populations.

Main Methods:

• The GSDS scale was developed and evaluated with 1020 German university students.
• External validity was assessed using the General Depression Scale and the Male Role Norms Scale.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis yielded a six-factor solution, highlighting stress perception, aggressiveness, depressive symptoms, and emotional suppression.
• The GSDS demonstrated sufficient discriminant validity with 86% sensitivity and 78% specificity.
• The GSDS identified more men at risk for depression compared to the General Depression Scale.

Conclusions:

• The GSDS-26 is a preliminarily validated, multidimensional scale designed to enhance depression identification in men.
• Further validation is recommended before routine clinical implementation.