Resumen de Macro-level gender equality and depression in men and women in Europe

Sarah Van de Velde, Tim Huijts, Piet Ferdinand Bracke, Clare Bambra

• Abstract A recurrent finding in international literature is a greater prevalence of depression in women than in men. While explanations for this gender gap have been studied extensively at the individual level, few researchers have studied macro-level determinants of depression in men and women. In the current study we aim to examine the micro�macro linkage of the relationship between gender equality and depression by gender in Europe, using data from the European Social Survey, 2006�2007 (N = 39,891). Using a multilevel framework we find that a high degree of macro-level gender equality is related to lower levels of depression in both women and men. It is also related to a smaller gender difference in depression, but only for certain social subgroups and only for specific dimensions of gender equality.