Gender-Specific Effects of Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Prosocial Behaviors

Abstract

BackgroundProsocial behaviors are essential to the ability to relate to others. Women typically display greater prosocial behavior than men. The impact of depression on prosocial behaviors and how gender interacts with those effects are not fully understood. We explored the role of gender in the potential effects of depression on prosocial behavior.MethodsWe examined prosocial behaviors using a modified version of the Trust Game in a clinical population and community controls. Study participants were characterized on the severity of depression and anxiety, presence of suicidal ideation, history of childhood trauma, recent stressful life events, and impulsivity. We correlated behavioral outcomes with gender and clinical variables using analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis.ResultsThe 89 participants comprised four study groups: depressed women, depressed men, healthy women and healthy men (n = 16–36). Depressed men exhibited reciprocity more frequently than healthy men. Depression induced an inversion of the gender-specific pattern of self-centered behavior. Suicidal ideation was associated with increased reciprocity behavior in both genders, and enhancement of the effect of depression on gender-specific self-centered behavior.ConclusionsDepression, particularly suicidal ideation, is associated with reversal of gender-specific patterns of prosocial behavior, suggesting abnormalities in sexual hormones regulation. This explanation is supported by known abnormalities in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axes found in depression.

Organization of intrinsic functional brain connectivity predicts decisions to reciprocate social behavior

“…Participants played 30 rounds of the Trust game, each with a different anonymous individual [10]. Participants were informed that they would play the Trust Game with other people who have already played the game whose responses (offers) had been recorded and would be paired with those of the participants themselves.…”

Prosocial Behavior and Depression: a Case for Developmental Gender Differences

“…Finally, using the Ultimatum Game, Radke and colleagues [32] show that adults with MDD reject more (fair and unfair) offers in the role of responder, compared to healthy controls. However, five studies show no difference in prosocial behavior by adults with MDD compared to healthy or non-clinical controls using a variant of the Dictator Game [30], the Prisoner’s Dilemma [33•], an Ultimatum Game in the role of proposer [30] and responder [30, 34] and a Trust Game in the roles of trustor and trustee [35•, 36]. Shao and colleagues [35•] also measured the correlation between reciprocity and depressive symptoms in adults with MDD; however, the association was not statistically significant.…”

Comportamentos Pró-Sociais de Adolescentes em Acolhimento Institucional

“…Já os meninos teriam tendência a ajudar o próximo em ações mais urgentes e com necessidades claras (Auné et al, 2014). Questões fisiológicas, também, estariam relacionadas a essas diferenças, conforme Cáceda et al (2014), os hormônios sexuais e as estruturas cerebrais especificas influenciariam comportamentos diferentes de homens e mulheres em relação à pró-socialidade.…”