THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND DEPRESSION AMONG NINTH GRADE GIRLS
The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and the experience of depression among ninth grade girls. One research was investigated in this study. The research question was as follows:
Are ninth grade girls from a rural or an urban school who participate in extracurricular activities less likely to exhibit symptoms of (a) dysphoric mood and related symptomatology, (b) anhedonia and negative affect, (c) negative self-evaluation, and (d) somatic and vegetative complaints than those who do not participate in extracurricular activities?
Discussion of the Findings Related to Urban-Rural Variations among Ninth Grade Girls in Relation to the Frequency of Depression Experienced
The research performed as a part of this study found no statistically significance difference in the levels of depression experienced by ninth grade rural girls and ninth grade urban girls. One manifestation of severe depression is suicide. Eberhardt, Ingram, Makuc, et al. (2002) reported a slightly higher frequency of depression among ninth grade girls in rural areas (5.7 percent) than among ninth grade girls in urban areas (5.4 percent). Suicide ideation among all ninth grade girls, however, was much higher (24.9 percent). Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control Study reported by Eberhardt, Ingram, Makuc, et al. (2002) did not differentiate between urban and rural ninth grade girls in relation to this statistic.
Houlihan, Fitzgerald, and O'Regan (1994) did report a higher frequency of depression among rural teenage girls in comparison with urban teenage girls in an Irish sample. Albers and Evans (1994) investigated an American sample, however, and found no statistically significant difference in the frequency of depression among teenage girls when contro...