The association between gender, sexual harassment, and self-compassion on depressive symptoms in adolescents

The study aims to identify the prevalence of bullying and sexual harassment as well as possible risk and protective factors for depression among adolescents. We focus on the association of different types of sexual harassment, gender, bullying, and self-compassion to depression criteria according to DSM 4.

This cross-sectional study included 318 adolescents aged 15-20 years, from Sweden. Participants answered the self-assessment scales Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, Second Edition, and Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales for Youth, as well as questions about sexual harassment and bullying. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between bullying, sexual harassment, self-compassion, and gender with depressive symptoms.

Few students had been subjected to bullying, whereas sexual harassment was more common. About 32.7% of students had been subjected to verbal harassment and girls were more frequently exposed. Both bullying and sexual harassment were associated with depressive symptoms, and gender patterns were observed. For boys, verbal harassment and bullying correlated with negative self-evaluation and somatic complaints. For girls, bullying correlated with all depressive symptoms. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with less depression, and the correlation was especially strong among boys.

Boys and girls express different types of depressive symptoms when subjected to bullying and sexual harassment. Not asking boys about negative self-evaluation or somatic complaints could lead to missing depression. However, for girls, all four symptoms are equally important to inquire about. Self-compassion is a possible protective factor against depression and future studies will show if teaching this to adolescents could lead to less depression.