Sex Roles, Vol. 41, No. 1/2, 1999 Gender Differences in Adolescent Depression: Gender-Typed Characteristics or Problem-Solving Skills De®cits? Diane Marcotte, 1 Michel Alain, and Marie-JoseÂe Gosselin Uni versity of QueÂbec This study explored gender differences in depressivesymptomsduringadoles- cence in relation with gender-typed characteristics, problem-solving abilities, and stressful life e vents. Participants were 306 white French-speaking adoles- cents (142 men and 164 women) from upper middle-class families enrolled in a high school in the Trois-Ri vie Áres area of QueÂbec. Participants ranged in age from 14 to 17 years, with a mean age of 15.3 years (SD 5 .95). They completed the French versions of the Beck Depression In ventory (BDI), the Bem Sex Role In ventory (BSRI), the Problem-Sol ving In ventory (PSI), and the Life E vent Questionnaire (LEQ) during a regular class. Depressed participants distinguished themselves from nondepressed participants on all variables except for expressi vity. Instrumentality was negati vely correlated with depression for boys and for the total sample. Scores on all three subscales of the PSI correlated with depression, and with scores on the LEQ, with the exception of ``In the Last Year’’ subscale for boys. A path analysis was conducted using scores on the BDI as the dependent variable. Subjecti ve problem-solving abilities act as a mediating variable between instrumentality and depression. Instrumentality, expressivity, and problem-solving abilities explained a signi®cant portion of the variance of the BDI. Depression in adole scents has become a major interest for clinical research- ers since the early 1980s. Recognition of the adequacy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition ( DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and more recently the Diagnostic and Statisti- cal Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition ( DSM-IV; American Psychi- 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at the Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivie Áres, C.P. 500, Trois-RivieÁres (QueÂbec), Canada. E-mail: Diane ± Marcotte@uqtr.uquebec.ca 31 0360-0025/99/0700-0031$1 6.00/0 Ó 1999 Plenum Publishing Corporation