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Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences

Lecture 53

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Office Hour InvitationsMarch 8th, 1:30-2:30, Kenny 2517

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Physical Health:

1. What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued)

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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

1. review health behaviours that may contribute to sex differences in mortality and morbidity.

3. explain the greater susceptibility to smoking-related lung cancer among females than males.

2. discuss trends across time and sex differences in smoking and lung cancer rates.

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5. explain the poorer quit rates of smoking among females than males.

4. review the stages of the worldwide tobacco epidemic.

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2. Health Behaviours (continued)

What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued)

(b) Smoking

Smoking rates have decreased over the last several decades. Today, 21.4% of Canadians smoke

(Statistics Canada, 2009).

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Males (24.3%) are more likely to smoke than females (18.5%), which may contribute to the higher mortality rate among males. However, the sex gap in smoking rates is decreasing:

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1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007

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Smoking Rates by Sex, 1977 to 2007 (Statistics Canada, 2003, 2009)P

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Camel Cigarette Ads Targeted at Girls:

Camel launched a No. 9 cigarette ad campaign in which it ran promotional giveaways, including flavoured lip balm, cell phone jewelry, purses and wristbands.

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among males and females (Statistics Canada, 2006):

Females who smoke are at greater risk for developing lung cancer than males who smoke (odds ratio of developing lung cancer = 1.2 – 1.7; Ernster, 1996; Shriver et al., 2000).

Lung and Breast Cancer Mortality Rates, 1979 to 2001 (Statistics Canada, 2006)

The sex difference in mortality due to lung cancer is narrowing: Over the last several decades, there has been a greater decline in smoking initiation among males than females and a higher quit rate among males than females.

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Stages of Worldwide Tobacco Epidemic 12

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Intervention studies have shown that males are more successful at quitting smoking than females (Bjornson et al., 1995; Wetter et al., 1999).

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Physical Health:

1. What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued)