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Psychology 320: Gender Psychology

Lecture 56

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Mental Health:

1. Are there sex differences in: (a) depression, (b) eating disorders, (c) personality disorders, and (d) suicide? (continued)

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• Sex differences in rates of major depressive disorder emerge in adolescence, peak in young adulthood, and subsequently decrease, with the elderly showing no sex difference in depression (Statistics Canada, 2001).

Are there sex differences in depression? (continued)

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

12 to

17

18 to

24

25 to

44

45 to

64

65+

Females

Males

Per

cen

t

Rates of Depression in Past Year by Sex and Age (Statistics Canada, 2001)

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• Sex differences in depression are consistently found in developed countries (Alansari, 2006).

• However, sex differences in depression do not appear among college and university students (Grant

et al., 2002).

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0

5

10

15

20

25

Canad

aUS

Puerto

Rico

Franc

e

Wes

t Ger

man

yIta

ly

New Z

ealan

d

Taiwan

Korea

Females

Males

Lifetime Rates of Depression in Developed Countries (Weissman et al., 1996)

Life

time

Rat

e of

Dep

ress

ion

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0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

Some

High S

choo

l

High S

choo

l Deg

ree

Some

Colleg

e

Colleg

e Deg

ree

Mas

ter's

Deg

ree

PhD/P

rofe

ssion

al

Females

Males

Dep

ress

ion

Rates of Depression Across Educational Levels (Ross & Mirowsky, 2006)

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• A number of factors have been proposed to account for sex differences in depression:

1. Hormones

(a) Some theorists maintain that testosterone “protects” males from depression.

However, research demonstrates a curvilinear relationship between testosterone levels and depression among males (Booth et al., 1999).

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(b) Some theorists maintain that the hormonal fluctuations associated with the female reproductive

system make females more susceptible to depression than males.

However, research has failed to demonstrate that the hormonal (e.g., estrogen) changes associated with menstruation or menopause are consistently linked to depression among females (Erdincler et al., 2004; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994).

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(c) Some theorists maintain that changes in oxytocin regulation during puberty cause females to be more reactive to interpersonal stressors and, thus, more vulnerable to depression.

However, some research has shown that oxytocin reduces women’s reactivity to stress (e.g., by lowering blood pressure; Grewen et al., 2005)

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2. Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness occurs when individuals come to believe that their efforts will not alter their

circumstances (Seligman, 1992).

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Model of Learned Helplessness (Seligman, 1992)

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According to this theory, females receive more “helplessness training” than males due to gender role

expectations (e.g., “self-silencing”) and their relatively low status in society.

Consistent with this theory, research has shown that females obtain lower scores than males on feelings of control, and that feelings of control are correlatedwith depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999).

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As we’ve discussed previously, in contrast to males, females are more likely to attribute failure to internal, stable and global factors and success to external, unstable and specific factors.

3. Attribution Styles

This attributional style has been linked to depression (Peterson & Villanova, 1988; Whitley, 1991).

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4. Coping

Two broad categories of coping strategies have been identified: Problem focused-coping strategies and emotion-focused coping strategies.

Research (Tamres et al., 2002) has found that, in absolute terms, females are more likely than males to use virtually all coping strategies:

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Coping Strategy Effect Size

PROBLEM FOCUSED

Active -.13

Planning -.04

Seeking social support (instrumental) -.07

EMOTION FOCUSED

Seeking social support (emotional) -.20

Avoidance -.03

Denial .00

Positive reappraisal -.03

Isolation -.03

Venting -.03

Rumination -.19

Wishful thinking -.13

Self-blame -.01

Positive self-talk -.17

Exercise -.04

Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Coping Strategies (Tamres et al., 2002)

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However, research (Tamres et al., 2002) has found that, in relative terms, females are more likely to use emotion-focused coping strategies than problem-focused coping strategies, and males are more likely to use problem-focused coping strategies than

emotion-focused coping strategies.

Two coping strategies have received considerable research attention:

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(a) Seeking social support

• Taylor et al. (2000) argue that, in contrast to males who exhibit a “flight or fight” response to stress,

females exhibit a “tend and befriend” response to stress.

• This response among females is hypothesized to have emerged from evolutionary pressures and to be

under the control of oxytocin. Oxytocin is released in greater quantities among females than males under stress.

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(b) Rumination

• Nolen-Hoeksema (1987, 1994) maintains that females experience higher levels of depression than

males because they are more likely to ruminate about negative events than males.

• The Rumination Scale assesses the tendency to engage in rumination after negative events.

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Sample Items from the Rumination Scale (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991)

When you feel down, sad, or depressed, to what extent do you:

1. think about how alone you feel.2. think “I won’t be able to do my work because I feel so badly.”3. think about your feelings of fatigue and achiness.4. think about how sad you feel.5. go away by yourself and think about why you feel this way.6. write down what you are thinking about and analyze it.7. analyze your personality and try to understand why you are depressed.8. think “Why do I have problems other people don’t have?”9. think “What am I doing to deserve this?”10. think “Why do I always react this way?”

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Mental Health:

1. Are there sex differences in: (a) depression, (b) eating disorders, (c) personality disorders, and (d) suicide? (continued)