A Study on the Effect of Gender Differences on Affective Dysregulation, Depression and Hopelessness among Adolescents

Affective dysregulation is a term used to describe severe and persistent inability to control one's mood states. Children with affective dysregulation have an impaired ability to filter and process the sensory information presented to them. Gender is an important variable that influences ones affective dysregulation, depression and hopelessness but remains an under researched topic. The present study intends to emphasize the role of gender differences on affective dysregulation, depression and hopelessness among adolescents. The sample of the study consisted of 100 undergraduate students (50 male and 50 females) from private colleges of Chandigarh. Affective Dysregulation Inventory, Zung Self-Rating Depression Inventory and Beck Hopelessness Scale were administered. The results indicate that significant gender differences on affective dysregulation were found, while depression and hopelessness were not found to have any significant impact on gender among adolescents.