Reflection Paper: Adolescent Depression

The authors introduce two factors that are essential in the study of depression among people: gender and cognitive control. The Social background Theory asserts that individuals whose backgrounds are relatively affected, dysfunctional families and financial instabilities, are more susceptible to depression disorder. Early exposure to some form of stress adds to the vulnerability one has in facing these fears in later life. However, in some cases, depression disorder catches up with a person in later life; some people show signs of the disease at teenage or a later stage of life. Age, therefore, becomes another factor of consideration when dealing with the condition of depression. Researchers state that the disease is more prevalent among adolescents than it is among other age brackets. That is the same claim that the writer presents in their article. Interestingly, at that stage of life, people are at the point of identifying themselves, and the need to feel fulfilled by the standards of the society is relatively high. Hence, the youths get worried whenever they fail to achieve what they consider utmost perfection.

Indeed the issue of adolescent depression is one primary cause for alarm in the society. Noteworthy, the topic has received a conceivable amount of concern and has even seen newspaper columns explore and expose the pandemic. One of such incidences is the case of an article in the New York Post newspaper by the title Depression is not the same for men and women on the 13th of July, 2017. The post exhibits the difference in the rates of depression occurrence, summarises Dr. Chuang et al. (2017) study, and bases its primary concern on the influence of sex differences in depression disorder (DD). In the newspaper, it is crystal clear that both women and men often suffer from depression; however, the former are more vulnerable compared to the latter (Fridkin et al., 2016). For that reason, whenever an instance of stress presents itself, women feel the effect more than men do. By providing the methods of the study as well as the results of the study, the post asserts its purpose and provides its foundation.

I have always been interested in helping others overcome their problems. Because of that reason, I began peer counselling in middle school, at around the age of nine. While going through counselling, I was able to determine that most of the students who came for advice were of the male gender. That fact propelled me to undertake a study within the school. The central hypothesis in the study was that women are more vulnerable during instances of stress compared to men. Through the research work, we were able to conclude that the reason behind such turnouts is because women are better equipped at managing stress than men are. According to Kutcher & Marton (1990), problem sharing goes a long way to avoid stress. Women apply the technique than men; they often talk to their friends in what some people call 'gossip talks.' A study by Cochran & Rabinowitz (2000), reveals that men are more secretive than women are, and because of that trait, they heap their stress to a level where it gets toxic. Through the accumulated stressing factors, a man quickly falls into depression; therefore, I find the newspaper post somewhat subjective. The article focuses on women as being more depressed, but it provides no valid explanation as to the reason. Though the article relies on a peer-reviewed study report, it is not enough to try educating people with an incomplete statement. The post merely states a fact, but it does not present its supposition's background; hence, the writing is incomplete and does not convince at all.

Even though both of the articles focus on depression, there is some level of disparity between the two that makes them quite distinct. The first piece has picked on one aspect under study: sex differences. Over time women have been referred to as the weaker gender (Luty, 2015), and much as the constant fights for equality seeks otherwise, the former assertion is correct. Based on their biological wiring, women are more emotional, making their sense of feel relatively higher than that of men. Emotions are easily stirred in women, and this is one factor that can lead to stress. According to Young et al. (2016), reaction to situations vary depending on ones gender, and this is the very reason DD is more common in women than it is in males. While the study points towards the fact as stated by Ypung et al. (2016), it fails to highlight the idea behind such an establishment. Therefore, the newspaper summary creates a loophole that a reader who has not had a chance to go through the study report might not be able to ascertain.

As part of my experience, I have worked with a newspaper as a column writer. The job gave me the chance to explore the appropriate ways to address an issue. While undergoing my late evening classes on writing for a newspaper column, I learned that it is essential that an idea is well articulated so that meaning is drawn out of it. That, however, is not the case with the news article under review. Merely stating a study as a point of reference does not in any way qualify an article as informative. According to Portman (1934), the basis of writing is to teach the world, and therefore every piece should be aimed at that (Lostutter, 1947). On that note, the newspaper article has proved incomprehensive; it does not teach as per Lostutter (1947) argument. That position stands despite the fact that the article mentions the fact that depression varies between different genders; it does not show its readers valid claims that lead to such a conclusion. In fact, it adds to the ambiguity of the stated assertion. Therefore, I feel the attempt to assume that the study could have better been done.

As mentioned before, the study relies on two factors to study depression trend. The reason for such a choice is because of the relationship that the two elements displayed. According to Yuang et al. (2016), dependent factors in a psychological study are best looked into at ago; that way, a relationship can be formed, thereby, giving room for a critical analysis of the predominant factor. What is more, the likelihood of getting more accurate results was improved by the consideration. Noteworthy, in the study, Chuang asserts that the research would not have been successful had they majored on just one factor. To him, cognitive control, and sex differences go hand in hand, and a neglect of any of the two would have affected the examination significantly. While looking at the summary of the article by the newspaper post, just one element, gender, is discussed, while cognitive control, which is the second in Chuang's pair exempted. Point-worthy, cognitive power varies from one sex to another (Verguts, 2017), and as mentioned prior, women react quickly to situations than men do. Therefore the former's cognitive control is relatively lower than that of the latter. Based on the above assertions, I find that the post misses out on completeness, and so, does not meet the qualification for a recommendation.

The summary has considerably brought to the readers attention the methods implored in the research. Mentionably, this is essential in the analysis of a report. While I read the review, I was able to find the component our middle school study missed: the ability to pick the right age of persons to study. The participants we involved were too young to be used for such a report; to them, stress is not quite a factor of concern. Moreover, the aim of our study was not entirely implicit; hence wrong conclusions were bound to be made. Otherwise, the study by Dr. Chuang and colleagues was quite intensive, and consequently, complete. The newspaper article, on the other hand, in referring to the survey, was a bit loopy. Inasmuch as the principal purpose of the study was covered, the backup reasons were not well articulated. Hence, I feel that theres some room for improvement while taking account of the study. Therefore then, the article receives a slightly below average, and it cannot be entirely relied on to inform on the content of the scientific article.

Works Cited

Chuang, J., Hagan, C. C., Murray, G. K., Graham, J. M., Ooi, C., Tait, R., Suckling, J. (2017). Adolescent Major Depressive Disorder: Neuroimaging Evidence of Sex Difference during an Affective Go/No-Go Task. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00119

Cochran, S. V., & Rabinowitz, F. E. (2000). Loss, Trauma, Grief, and Masked Depression in Men. Men and Depression, 51-77. doi:10.1016/b978-012177540-7/50004-7

Fridkin, K. L., Courey, J., Hernandez, S., & Spears, J. (2016). Gender Differences in Reactions to Fact Checking of Negative Commercials. Politics & Gender, 12(02), 369-390. doi:10.1017/s1743923x16000076

Kutcher, S. P., & Marton, P. (1990). Adolescent Depression. Treatment Strategies in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19-29. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2599-2_2

Lostutter, M. (1947). Some Critical Factors of Newspaper Readability. Journalism Bulletin, 24(4), 307-331. doi:10.1177/107769904702400402

Luty, S. (2015). Major Depressive Disorder. Oxford Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1093/med:psych/9780199746903.003.0005

Portmann, V. R. (1934). Book Review: Making Todays Newspaper: A Method for Gathering, Writing, and Publishing NewsMAKING TODAYS NEWSPAPER: A METHOD FOR GATHERING, WRITING, AND PUBLISHING NEWS. By WilliamFuthey Gibbons. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edwards Brothers, Inc. 1933. v 281 pp. Journalism Bulletin, 11(1), 91-91. doi:10.1177/107769903401100110

Verguts, T. (2017). Computational Models of Cognitive Control. The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control, 125-142. doi:10.1002/9781118920497.ch8

WHIMN. (2017, July 13). Depression is not the same for men and women. New York Post. Retrieved November 25, 2017.

Young, J. F., Mufson, L., & Schueler, C. M. (2016). Preventing Adolescent Depression. Oxford Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1093/med:psych/9780190243180.001.0001