Offspring of parents with depression histories are at increased risk of developing depression and also report maladaptive ways of self-regulating sadness. Maladaptive regulation of sadness tends to be more prevalent among females than males and has been proposed as one explanation of sex differences in depression rates that emerge around mid-adolescence. However, there is scant information about the age at which the sex differences in maladaptive regulatory responses become evident and whether such age-related sex differences vary depending on depression risk. The present study examined two samples aged 8-18 years: 86 offspring of emotionally healthy parents and 98 offspring of parents with depression histories. Subjects were clinically assessed and provided self-reports of maladaptive responses to sadness. In the combined samples, sex differences in maladaptive responses were significant at age 12.5 years and older ages (i.e., chronologically earlier than the documented emergence of sex differences in depression). While in the high-risk group, sex differences in maladaptive regulatory responses were significant at 12.11 years of age and older, in the low-risk group there was no age at which sex differences were significant. Our findings support the possible mechanistic role of maladaptive emotion regulation in the emergence of sex disparities in depression rates and have implications for prevention.

有抑郁病史的父母的后代患抑郁症的风险增加，并且报告了自我调节悲伤的适应不良方式。对悲伤的不适应调节在女性中比男性更普遍，并且已被提议作为青春期中期出现抑郁率性别差异的一种解释。然而，关于适应不良调节反应的性别差异变得明显的年龄以及这种与年龄相关的性别差异是否因抑郁风险而异的信息很少。本研究检查了两个年龄在 8-18 岁之间的样本：86 名情绪健康的父母的后代和 98 名有抑郁史的父母的后代。对受试者进行临床评估，并提供对悲伤的适应不良反应的自我报告。在组合样本中，适应不良反应的性别差异在 12.5 岁及以上年龄时显着（即，在时间上早于记录的抑郁症性别差异的出现）。在高风险组中，适应不良调节反应的性别差异在 12.11 岁及以上时显着，而在低风险组中，没有性别差异显着的年龄。我们的研究结果支持适应不良情绪调节在抑郁率性别差异出现中的可能机制作用，并对预防有影响。11 岁及以上，在低风险组中，没有性别差异显着的年龄。我们的研究结果支持适应不良情绪调节在抑郁率性别差异出现中的可能机制作用，并对预防有影响。11 岁及以上，在低风险组中，没有性别差异显着的年龄。我们的研究结果支持适应不良情绪调节在抑郁率性别差异出现中的可能机制作用，并对预防有影响。