Sex differences in mental illness among adult men and women: An evaluation of four questions raised regarding the evidence on the higher rates of women

ABSTRACT Background The American Indian (AI) population experiences significant diet-related health disparities including diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Owing to the relatively small sample size of AIs, the population is rarely included in large national surveys such as the NHANES. This exclusion hinders efforts to characterize potentially important differences between AI men and women, track the costs of these disparities, and effectively treat and prevent these conditions. Objective We examined the sex differences in diabetes prevalence, comorbidity experience, health care utilization, and treatment costs among AIs within a Northern Plains Indian Health Service (IHS) service unit. Methods We assessed data from a sample of 11,144 persons using an IHS service unit in the Northern Plains region of the United States. Detailed analyses were conducted for adults (n = 7299) on prevalence of diabetes by age and sex. We described sex differences in comorbidities, health care utilization, and treatment costs among the adults with diabetes. Results In our sample, adult men and women had a similar prevalence of diabetes (10.0% and 11.0%, respectively). The prevalence of CVD among men and women with diabetes was 45.7% and 34.0%, respectively. Among adults with diabetes, men had a statistically higher prevalence of hypertension and substance use disorders than women. The men were statistically less likely to have a non–substance use mental health disorder. Although men had higher utilization and costs for hospital inpatient services than women, the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions In this AI population, there were differences in comorbidity profiles between adult men and women with diabetes, which have differential mortality and cost consequences. Appropriate diabetes management addressing gender-specific comorbidities, such as substance use disorders for men and non–substance use mental health disorders for women, may help reduce additional comorbidities or complications to diabetes.

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Psychosocial factors that distinguish between men and women who have suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide: findings from a national probability sample of adults

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291721005195 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Cara Richardson ◽

Kathryn A. Robb ◽

Sally McManus ◽

Rory C. O'Connor

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Psychosocial Factors ◽

Suicide Risk ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Childhood Adversity ◽

Suicidal Thoughts ◽

Men And Women

Abstract Background Previous research has highlighted the importance of understanding which psychosocial factors distinguish between those with suicide thoughts compared to those who attempt suicide. This study aims to investigate these distinguishing factors further within an ideation-to-action framework and to explore sex differences in suicide risk. Methods Participants (n = 7546, aged 16+) were from the cross-sectional Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS; 2014) of England. Face-to-face and self-completion questionnaires assessed lifetime suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide attempts, demographic characteristics, life experiences, social support, health and mental illness. Multinomial logistic regression examined factors differentiating between those with suicidal ideation only and suicide attempt histories (with or without suicidal ideation) in men and women. Results Overall men were less likely to report suicidal thoughts and attempts, compared to females. More factors differentiated between suicidal thoughts and attempts in women compared to in men; these included hospital admission for mental illness, below degree level qualifications, being single and childhood adversity. In men, factors which significantly differentiated between suicidal thoughts and attempts included self-report of professional diagnosis of mental illness and childhood adversity. Higher levels of social support were associated with being in the suicidal thoughts group v. in the attempts group in men. Conclusion This study identified some key differences between men and women in factors associated with suicide attempts compared to suicidal thoughts. The findings support the use of the ideation-to-action framework to investigate sex differences in suicidal behaviour. Future research should examine the extent to which these factors are associated with suicide risk over time.

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Sex differences in the Kimchi-Palmer task revisited: Global reaction times, but not number of global choices differ between adult men and women

Physiology & Behavior ◽

10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.07.012 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 165 ◽

pp. 159-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Andrea Scheuringer ◽

Belinda Pletzer

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Men And Women ◽

Adult Men ◽

Global Reaction

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879: Sensitivity Mapping of Adult Men and Women Based on Sagasf Survey

The Journal of Urology ◽

10.1016/s0022-5347(18)38128-x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 171 (4S) ◽

pp. 233-233

Author(s):

Justine M. Schober ◽

Heino F.L. Meyer-Bahlburg ◽

Philip G. Ransley

Keyword(s):

Men And Women ◽

Adult Men

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Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Reactivity

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803.23.2.77 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 77-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Matthew C. Whited ◽

Kevin T. Larkin

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Gender Roles ◽

Cardiovascular Reactivity ◽

Task Type ◽

Conflict Task ◽

Men And Women ◽

Conflicting Evidence ◽

Blood Pressure Responses

Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to stress are well documented, with some studies showing women having greater heart rate responses than men, and men having greater blood pressure responses than women, while other studies show conflicting evidence. Few studies have attended to the gender relevance of tasks employed in these studies. This study investigated cardiovascular reactivity to two interpersonal stressors consistent with different gender roles to determine whether response differences exist between men and women. A total of 26 men and 31 women were assigned to either a traditional male-oriented task that involved interpersonal conflict (Conflict Task) or a traditional female-oriented task that involved comforting another person (Comfort Task). Results demonstrated that women exhibited greater heart rate reactions than men independent of the task type, and that men did not display a higher reactivity than women on any measure. These findings indicate that sex of participant was more important than gender relevance of the task in eliciting sex differences in cardiovascular responding.

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The Relationship of Compliance with Coping Strategies and Self-Esteem

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.19.2.117 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 117-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Gisli H. Gudjonsson ◽

Jon Fridrik Sigurdsson

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Multiple Regression ◽

Sex Difference ◽

Test Scores ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Stressful Situation ◽

Men And Women ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

Summary: The Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS), the COPE Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were administered to 212 men and 212 women. Multiple regression of the test scores showed that low self-esteem and denial coping were the best predictors of compliance in both men and women. Significant sex differences emerged on all three scales, with women having lower self-esteem than men, being more compliant, and using different coping strategies when confronted with a stressful situation. The sex difference in compliance was mediated by differences in self-esteem between men and women.

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Sex Differences in Time Production Revisited

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000059 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 35-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Joseph Glicksohn ◽

Yamit Hadad

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Sex Difference ◽

Absolute Error ◽

Internal Clock ◽

Target Duration ◽

Log P ◽

Men And Women ◽

Time Production ◽

T Score

Individual differences in time production should indicate differences in the rate of functioning of an internal clock, assuming the existence of such a clock. And sex differences in time production should reflect a difference in the rate of functioning of that clock between men and women. One way of approaching the data is to compute individual regressions of produced duration (P) on target duration (T), after log transformation, and to derive estimates for the intercept and the slope. One could investigate a sex difference by comparing these estimates for men and women; one could also contrast them by looking at mean log(P). Using such indices, we found a sex difference in time production, female participants having a relatively faster internal clock, making shorter time productions, and having a smaller exponent. The question is whether a sex difference in time production would be found using other methods for analyzing the data: (1) the P/T ratio; (2) an absolute discrepancy (|P-T|) score; and (3) an absolute error (|P-T|/T) score. For the P/T ratio, female participants have a lower mean ratio in comparison to the male participants. In contrast, the |P-T| and |P-T|/T indices seem to be seriously compromised by wide individual differences.

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