A comparison of female and male neurotic depressives

Abstract

Female and male neurotic depressives in an outpatient psychiatric clinic were compared on measures of subjective distress, interpersonal concerns, and types of treatment given. There were essentially no differences between the two groups on the patient self-report measures. However, female patients were found to have significantly more therapy sessions that the male neurotic depressives. Also, the female patients were more likely than the male patients to receive psychotropic medication, especially the more potent antidepressant variety.

Race bias, social class bias, and gender bias in clinical judgment.

“…The effect of gender was usually not significant for other decisions related to psychiatric treatment. For example, the effect of gender was generally not significant when psychiatrists read case vignettes and decided if clients should receive psychiatric treatment (Farmer & Griffiths, 1992) or when they made recommendations for electroconvulsive treatment (Lowery & Higgins, 1979; Schwartz & Abramowitz, 1975) or treatment with psy‐chotropic medicine (Del Gaudio, Carpenter, & Morrow, 1978; Fernbach et al, 1989; Hansen & Reekie, 1990; Lowery & Higgins, 1979; Murray & Abramson, 1983; Oyster‐Nelson & Cohen, 1981; Schwartz & Abramowitz, 1975; Stearns et al, 1980; Wrobel, 1993; but also see Lewis et al, 1990; Stein, Del Gaudio, & Ansley, 1976). When gender bias occurred, more medicine was recommended for males in one study (Lewis et al, 1990) and for females in a second study (Stein et al, 1976).…”

Patient variable biases in clinical judgment: Conceptual overview and methodological considerations.

“…Abramowitz, Abramowitz, Jackson, & Gomes, 1973). Similarly, in clinical studies, bias is identified when treatment differences are found between male and female patients when the level of psychopathology has been shown to be equivalent for both groups (e.g., Stein, Del Gaudio, & Ansley, 1976), or when the level of psychopathology is statistically controlled (S. I. Abramowitz & Herrera, 1981;Rosenfield, 1982).…”

Effects of clients' obesity and gender on the therapy judgments of psychologists.

“…The methodology of Broverman et al's study has been used in more recent years, with inconsistent results. Surveys of therapists have shown that women receive more therapy sessions and more antidepressant medication than do men (Stein, Del Gaudio, & Ansley, 1976) and a survey of clients found that women report episodes of therapists' fostering of traditional sex roles and devaluation of women (Sesan, 1988). Concern about negative gender stereotyping prompted the American Psychological Association (APA, 1975) to ap-point a task force to investigate gender bias toward women and resulted in policy statements (APA, 1978) to protect the rights of women who might be affected by gender bias in psychotherapy.…”