Depression, psychological separation, and college adjustment: An investigation for sex differences.

18 male and 24 female undergraduates from intact families completed the Beck Depression Inventory, a psychological separation inventory, and a college adjustment inventory. Results indicate that males were significantly more independent of parents than were females and that significant negative correlations between psychological separation and both depression and college adjustment existed only for females. No significant relation between depression and college adjustment was observed for either males or females. Additional findings suggest that the relation of psychological separation to adjustment was affected by the type of independence and adjustment being measured as well as the sex of the S and the S's parent. Implications for developmental theory are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)