Gender Differences in Stress

Anonymous User writes "In a recent issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a study was done to examine whether one gender or the other reported exposure to a greater number of life stresses, or reported greater likelihood of depression in response to stress. Thus, the authors examine the "cost of caring" hypothesis, in which women are thought to be more prone to depression because they have a greater emotional investment in their social networks. Results: Men were more likely to report stresses such as occupational problems, job loss, legal problems, and being robbed. Women were more likely to report stresses from conflict, crisis, or illness in their support network. Results were seen as consistent with gender role expectations. There was no indication that women experienced more stresses or were more sensitive to stress. An abstract of the article can be found here."Source: American Journal of Psychiatry



Title: Gender Differences in the Rates of Exposure to Stressful Life Events and Sensitivity to Their Depressogenic Effects



Author: Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., Laura M. Thornton, Ph.D. and Carol A. Prescott, Ph.D.



Date: April 2001

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