Gender differences in psychopathology associated with MA use have also been reported, with most linked to MA-induced depression. Several studies have reported that significantly more MA-dependent women have made lifetime suicide attempts compared to male MA abusers (Brecht et al., 2004; Zweben et al., 2004; Glasner-Edwards et al., 2008) and one study of 200 inpatient adolescent MA abusers (125 males, 75 females), found a higher incidence of depression in females (7%) than in males (2%) (Yen and Chong, 2006). Consistent with the findings above depressive symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were endorsed by 34% of females in the MTP compared to 24% of the males. Furthermore in this same sample of 1016 MA abusers, 68% of the females reported depression on the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) compared to 50% of males (Zweben et al., 2004). In a 3-year follow-up to the MTP study, a marginally significant relationship was found between gender and MDD diagnosis (based on the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview), with 18% of women meeting criteria for MDD compared to 11% of men (Glasner-Edwards et al., 2009).
