Gender, Instrumentality, and Expressivity: Moderators of the Relation Between Stress and Psychological Symptoms During Adolescence 1

Examined the roles o f gender, instrumentafity, and expressivity as moderators o f the relations between stressful events and psychological symptoms in samples o f junior high (n = 93), senior high (n = 140), and college students (n = 145). Female adolescents in all three samples reported more overall negative events than did males. Females in the junior and senior high samples reported more negative interpersonal stresses than did males. However, there were no indications in any of the samples o f a stronger relation between negative events and psychological symptoms for adolescent females than males. Further, there was little evidence that instrumentality or expressivity moderated the relations between negative events and psychological symptoms. In each sample, certain stresses were most strongly related to psychological symptoms: family stresses in the junior high, peer stresses in the senior high, and academic stresses in the college sample. Implications o f the findings for developmental changes in stress during adolescence are discussed.