Gender Distribution of Mental Illnesses - Annotated Bibliography Example

Afifi, M. (2007). Gender differences in mental health. Singapore medical journal, 48(5), 385-91. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17453094

This article revolves around gender differences in mental health. Gender determines the risks of developing mental illness, individual’s literacy of psychological health, and ones’ ability to seek medical help. The following was the research question: which are gender differences in mental health? The author used online publications of sex and gender differences in psychiatry and mental health to examine gender gaps in mental illness. Afifi discovered that being female increases the risk of developing anxiety and depressive disorders because of problems relating to reproduction, family, and shelter, which contribute to stress, worries, and cognitive variables in their lives. The article also concludes that females with mental illnesses outnumber males suffering from psychological problems.

Albert, P. R. (2015). Why is depression more prevalent in women? Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience: JPN, 40(4), 219-21, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/jpn.150205

The purpose of carrying out this study was to investigate why women report more cases of depression than men. The following was the research question for this study: why is depression more prevalent in women than in men? Albert wanted to test the hypothesis that depressive disorders are more common in females than in males. Albert reviewed the previous articles from various databases to determine why women depression is common in United States, Canada, and the globe. This implies that the researcher used literature search strategy to identify the reasons why depressive symptoms are more prevalent in females. Albert found that hormonal changes, physical strength, and personality traits cause depressive disorders in women. Therefore, biological sex differences between men and women depict why depressive illness is more prevalent in women.

Dagher, R. K., Chen, J., & Thomas, S. B. (2015). Gender differences in mental health outcomes before, during, and after the Great Recession. PloS one, 10(5), e0124103. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124103

The study was done to respond to the question relating to gender disparities in mental health during the periods of pre-recession, recession, and post-recession. A sample of 46,408 females and 34,905 males (18-64 years) was utilized to examine the effects of pre-recession, recession and post-recession on mental health. A Survey that was done within the three periods (2005–2006, 2008–2009, and 2010–2011) helped researchers gather the relevant data; they used multivariate logistic regression, Bonferroni correlation, and coding to analyze the collected data.

With the aid of instruments like Kessler 6 (K6) scale of non-specific psychological distress and 12-item Short Form Mental Health Summary (SF-12 MCS), the researcher was able to obtain the scores for psychological distress in men and women. The study revealed that economic recession makes more men lose their jobs thus they are more likely to suffer from mental health distress than women. Economic downturn tends to increase psychiatric hospital admissions and lengthen psychiatric hospital stay due to lack of money to cater for patient’s needs. The study limitations were use of self-reported data instead of empirical data; difficulties in determining periods of economic downturns and their impacts; inability to collect information relating to suicidal cases due to approaches used; and not all mental illnesses were caused by economic recession.

Jun, H. J., Sacco, P., Bright, C. L., & Camlin, E. A. (2015). Relations among internalizing and externalizing symptoms and drinking frequency during adolescence. Substance use & misuse, 50(14), 1814-1825. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2015.1058826

The authors wanted to support the hypothesis that externalizing and internalizing disorders are related to frequent drinking and substance use in youths. In this case, they utilized longitudinal survey data of a study pertaining to 724 teenagers to test the hypothesis; they also used multiple group structural equation model to determine the gender gaps in mental illnesses for those teenagers that drink alcohol frequently. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self Report (YSR), Chi-square, and weighted least squares with mean and variance estimation (WLSMV) were tools utilized for measurement purposes. It was found that drinking alcohol at the age of 12 is associated with psychological problems that boys and girls experience at the age of 15. In girls, there is a relationship between internalizing problems and using alcohol at the age of 12, while in boys, there are stronger relationships between using alcohol at the age of 18 and externalizing problems. Drinking alcohol at youthful age is challenging for adolescents and adopting intervention programs may prevent problems associated with alcohol use. The researcher learned that self-report data causes biases, it is difficult to compared results obtained with other studies, and findings that can be obtained in rural areas differ with those pertaining to urban population.

McLean, C. P., Asnaani, A., Litz, B. T., & Hofmann, S. G. (2011). Gender differences in anxiety disorders: prevalence, course of illness, comorbidity and burden of illness. Journal of psychiatric research, 45(8), 1027-1035. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.03.006

McLean, Asnaani, Litz, & Hofmann carried out this study to examine gender differences in development, onset age, comorbidity, and burden of mental illnesses, specifically the anxiety disorder. It was done to respond to the research question concerning gender disparities in anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are more prevalent in women than in men, but there is need to gain knowledge about the influence of gender on development, commodity, onset age, and burden of the mental illness. Samples of the study were taken from participants (over 18-year-old) National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the National Study of American Life, and the National Latino and Asian American Study of Mental Health (Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies) The researchers collected data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies to accomplish study to study gender differences in anxiety disorders. The instrument used the study was World Health Organization Composite International Interview (WMH-CIDI), whereas SPSS was used to analyzed statistical data. The study demonstrates that no significant gender differences in onset age and chronicity of anxiety disorders exist. The researchers also prove that anxiety disorders are not only more common but also create more significant burdens in women than in men. For limitations of the study, the article reveals self-reported, inability to seek help from health providers, and data biases affected the accuracy of the results.

Picco, L., Subramaniam, M., Abdin, E., Vaingankar, J. A., & Chong, S. A. (2016). Gender differences in major depressive disorder: findings from the Singapore Mental Health Study. Singapore Med J, 1, 1-21. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2016144

This study was done to investigate gender differences in the major depressive problems. Random sampling was used to select the study participants. The research question for this study is which are gender disparities in major depressive symptoms? Between 2009 and 2010, 6,616 participants aged 18 years and above, were interviewed to give their perceptions regarding the effect of gender on depression. The researchers carried out data analysis using descriptive statistics and Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) System version 9.2. The tools used to assess depression and other variables were World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) version 3.0, International Classification of Disease, 10th revision (ICD-10), Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), Visual Analogue Scale, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report (QIDSSR), and Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression (HAM-D). According to the research outcomes, major depressive disorders were more common in men and divorce and widowed women than single ones. The lifetime prevalence of major depression among women and men was reported to be 7.2% and 4.3% respectively. Women had higher odds of having anxiety related problems as compared to men. In the case of limitations, the researcher argues that differences obtained were insignificant statistical figures and challenges faced by practitioners during detection and screening of disorders.

Riecher-Rössler, A. (2017). Sex and gender differences in mental disorders. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(1), 8-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30348-0

Psychologists have found that disparities to sex and gender in psychiatric disorders are complex and established research finding, which needs additional research and more understanding. In this case, the research question was which are sex and gender gaps in mental illnesses? Gender differences occur in terms of symptoms, risk and contributing factors, development, and prevalence of mental illnesses. Riecher-Rössler employed literature search approach to examine gender and sex disparities in psychological disorders. According to Riecher-Rössler’s article, these differences are triggered by changes in levels of sex hormones, low self-esteem, gender inequalities, violence, higher likelihood of body shame and rumination, sexual abuse, interpersonal stressors, and gender discrimination.

Schlack, R., & Petermann, F. (2013). Prevalence and gender patterns of mental health problems in German youth with experience of violence: the KiGGS study. BMC public health, 13(1), 628, Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-628

Violence involvement increases the odds of developing externalizing and internalizing problems in youths. A sample of 6,813 youths aged 11 to 17 years was taken from German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents. The researchers applied multivariate logistic regression analyses to analyze the information collected from the KiGGS study. Disorders were diagnosed using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and SCOFF questionnaire. The results of the survey demonstrate that violence perpetrators have a higher tendency of suffering from externalizing problems while victims of youth violence are more likely to internalizing problems. Similarly, the findings show that girls associated with violence are prone to conduct disorders, substance use disorders, emotional problems, eating disorders, and substance abuse problems. Male perpetrating victims were diagnosed with somatic disorders, emotional disorders, behavioral disorders, and eating disorders. Gender determines the risks of developing psychological problems among youths with experience of violence. According to the article, the study limitations were no violation was defined by the participants, big gap between the accuracy of self-reported and clinical diagnoses, and limited resources.

Usall, J., Iniesta, R., Ochoa, S., Villalta, V., Suárez, D., Pezzimenti, M., & Millán, J. (2012). Gender differences in the use of mental health services in a Barcelona area. The European Journal of Psychiatry, 26(1), 30-40. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S0213-61632012000100003

The researchers conducted this study to investigate gender gaps in the use of mental health services in Barcelona. They needed to test the study hypothesis that women are more likely to be diagnosed with psychological problems as well as seek and use mental health services than men. The research question was which are gender differences in the use of mental health services in Barcelona area? In this case, the study objectives were to examine the data relating to the use of outpatient and hospital services and find out the gender differences in the diagnoses of mental illnesses and use of mental health care services. The sample for this survey consisted of those patients (39,479 women and 25,986 men with average ages of 50 and 48 years respectively), who had visited mental hospitals to utilize mental health services between 2002 and 2007. Using the sample of patients, they determined gender differences in the number of consultations and number and length of hospitalizations. The researchers applied regression analysis as a method of data analysis. The results supported the study hypothesis by revealing that the number of women who seek mental help or attend hospitals is more than that of men. In conclusion, there exist gender disparities in the prevalence of hospitalizations for mental health. The authors claim that more women are likely to seek professional help, leading to data bias; data limitations as it was only sourced from public mental health facilities; rates of admission are not direct representations of morbidity differences; and some patients did not provide education, ethnicity, and other variables, which could influence seeking of mental health services.

Zalk, M. H. W. V., Kerr, M., Branje, S. J., Stattin, H., & Meeus, W. H. (2010). Peer contagion and adolescent depression: The role of failure anticipation. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 39(6), 837-848. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2010.517164

The authors take a stand on the role of peer influence and failure anticipation and how they lead to development of depressive symptoms. The research question and hypothesis are relatable to roles of failure anticipation and peer contagion in teen depression. A sample of 842 adolescents (mean age=14.3 years) was recruited, and five annual measurements of data were collected from study participants. Collection of data was done through administration of questionnaires to the adolescents. The research employed Simulation Investigation for Empirical Network Analyses and descriptive statistics to analyze the collected data. Zalk, Kerr, Branje, Stattin, & Meeus screened and measured depression and failure anticipation using Child Depression Scale, and revised Strategy Attribution Questionnaire respectively. Girls suffering from depressive problems are more likely to socialize and exchange information about their thoughts and feelings than boys, which in turn cause failure anticipations and others to develop similar emotional problems. Further, the authors argue research limitations were peer contagion and depression not only occur as result of failure anticipation but also cognitive styles, the differences between the way depressed peers and less depressed peer communicate were not investigated, and the study did consider the influence of relationship quality.