Sex differences in mental illness: a community study of the influence of physical health and sociodemographic factors

Abstract

This paper examines sex differences in psychiatric morbidity, using data from a community sample. The PSE-CATEGO-ID system was used to evaluate psychopathology. Six sociodemographic factors and physical illness were taken as independent variables. Females exhibit both a significantly higher psychiatric morbidity than males and a predominance of syndromes closely related to depression (SD; OD syndromes) and anxiety (GA; SA; TE; IT syndromes). Logistic modelling analysis, carried out separately for each sex, yielded different models. Psychiatric illness in men was best predicted by physical illness, unemployment and the interaction between the two. In contrast, physical illness emerged, in women, as the only factor exerting significant effects on psychiatric morbidity.

Gender differences in insomnia and the role of paid work and family responsibilities

“…It has been indicated that sex steroids-such as progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone-influence differences in the sleep patterns of men and women [16]. Psychiatric illnesses, such as affective and neurotic disorders, are more common in women than in men [17][18][19] and are commonly associated with sleep disturbance [20][21][22]. However, it remains controversial as to whether a history of mental illness explains gender disparities in insomnia symptoms.…”

Sintomatología depresiva en ancianos. La influencia del género

“…Se trata de un estudio transversal descriptivo. La fuente de datos fue la encuesta realizada para el estudio de Fragilidad en Lleida (Encuesta FRALLE) ( (22,23). Este escenario apreciado en nuestro país es difícil explicar a través de los factores de riesgo conocidos y quizás habría que interpretarlo en base a los roles culturales de género que han afectado durante toda su vida a estas personas.…”

Health status in adolescents: which relation with family image?

“…Negli ultimi anni e aumentato notevolmente l'interesse teorico per quell'epoca della vita che va dai 14 ai 19 anni (Nicoletti, 1990), determinando un incremento a livello internazionale degli studi prettamente epidemiologici sull'adolescenza, aventi l'obiettivo di studiare la diffusione del disagio psichico, valutato spesso mediante scale psicometriche autosomministrate (D'Arcy & Siddique, 1984;Almqvist, 1986;Kashani et al, 1987;Deykin et al, 1987;Mechanic & Hansell, 1989;Aro & Palosaari, 1992;Vazquez-Barquero et al, 1992;Reinherz et al, 1993).…”

“…Utilizzando strumenti diversi, piii autori hanno evidenziato che le adolescenti presentano piii problemi di salute psichica dei coetanei maschi, indipendentemente dal contesto culturale di appartenenza (D'Arcy & Siddique, 1984;Almqvist, 1986;Kashani et al, 1987;Vazquez-Barquero et al, 1992;Gore et al, 1992;Smeeton et al, 1992) e che vi e associazione tra assunzione di sostanze «voluttuarie» (quali alcool, tabacco, droghe, psicofarmaci) e stato di depressione (Kashani et al, 1987) o di ansia (Bernstein et al, 1989).…”