Transcript Lecture56-PPT1 - UBC Psychology`s Research Labs

Psychology 320:
Psychology of Gender
and Sex Differences
Lecture 56
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Office Hour Invitations
March 15th, 1:30-2:30, Kenny 2517
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Reminder: Paper
Topic due date: March 20 (Option A or B, 3-5 sentence
summary; e-mail to your TA for approval).
Paper due date: April 3.
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Physical and Mental Health:
1. What factors account for sex differences in health?
(continued)
2. Are there sex differences in depression?
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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. review gender-related factors that contribute to sex
differences in mortality and morbidity.
2. discuss the relationship between physical health and:
agency, unmitigated agency, communion, and
unmitigated communion.
3. review the diagnostic criteria for major depressive
disorder.
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4. discuss sex differences in rates of depression.
5. discuss the developmental trajectory associated with
sex differences in depression.
6. consider the role of genes in accounting for sex
differences depression.
7. consider the role of hormones in accounting for sex
differences depression.
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What factors account for sex differences in health?
(continued)
3. Gender-Related Factors (continued)
(d) Gender-Related Traits
 Agency: greater physical activity, health eating,
subjective and objective physical health (Danoff-Burg et
al., 2002; Ghaed & Gallo, 2006).
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 Unmitigated agency: feelings of invulnerability and
greater risk-taking contribute to poorer physical health
and shorter life expectancy (Danoff-Burg et al., 2002;
Ghaed & Gallo, 2006; Yu & Xie, 2008).
 Communion: unrelated to physical health (Ghaed &
Gallo, 2006; Helgeson, 1994).
 Unmitigated communion: poorer health practices and
objective physical health (Ghaed & Gallo, 2006;
Helgeson et al., 2007; Yu & Xie, 2008).
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Are there sex differences in depression?
• According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), major depressive
disorder (i.e., clinical depression) is characterized by
five or more of the following symptoms, present for at
least 2 weeks:
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DSM-IV-TR Criteria for Major Depressive
Disorder (APA, 2000)
 Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.*
 Markedly diminished interest in activities.*
 Significant weight loss.
 Insomnia.
 Psychomotor agitation or retardation.
 Fatigue or loss of energy.
 Feelings of worthlessness.
 Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.
 Recurrent thoughts of death.
* One of these symptoms must be included in the five symptoms.
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Sample Items from the Center for Epidemiological
Studies in Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977)
1. I did not like eating; my appetite was poor.
2. I felt I could not shake off the blues even with the help of my family or friends.
3. I felt that I was just as good as other people.*
4. I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing.
5. I felt depressed.
6. I felt that everything I did was an effort.
7. I thought my life had been a failure.
8. My sleep was restless.
9. I felt lonely.
10. People were unfriendly.
11. I enjoyed life.*
12. I had crying spells.
13. I felt sad.
14. I felt that people disliked me.
15. I could not get “going.”
* Reverse-scored items.
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• Females are more likely than males to be diagnosed
with depression (Culbertson, 1997; Hasin et al., 2005;
Kessler, 2003; Kessler et al., 2003):
General population: females are two times more likely
than males to report depressive symptoms.
Clinical samples: females are two to four times more
likely than males to be diagnosed with major
depressive disorder.
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• 12% of Canadian females and 7% of Canadian males
report symptoms of depression (urban centres; Smith,
Matheson, Moineddin, Glazier, 2007).
• Significant sex differences in rates of major depressive
disorder emerge in adolescence, peak in young
adulthood, and subsequently decrease, with the elderly
showing a minimal sex difference in depression:
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CDI Score
CDI (Depression) Scores for
Girls and Boys as a Function of Age
(Twenge and Nolen-Hoeksema, 2002)
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Rates of Depression in Past Year by
Sex and Age (Statistics Canada, 2009)
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9
8
6
Females
Males
5
4
3
2
1
+
65
64
45
to
44
25
to
24
to
18
to
17
0
12
Percent
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• Sex differences in depression do not appear among
college and university students (Grant et al., 2002).
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Rates of Depression Across Educational Levels
(Ross & Mirowsky, 2006)
1.6
1.4
1.2
Depression
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Females
Males
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
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• Sex differences in depression are found across nations
(Alansari, 2006; Seedat et al., 2009).
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Female to Male Odds Ratio for Depression in 15
Countries (Seedat et al., 2009)
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• A number of factors have been proposed to account
for sex differences in depression:
1. Genes
 Some theorists have speculated that the X
chromosome carries a gene for depression.
However, there is a greater likelihood of father-son
pairs exhibiting depression than father-daughter
pairs (Helgeson, 2013).
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2. Hormones
(a) Some theorists maintain that testosterone “protects”
males from depression.
However, midrange levels of testosterone are
associated with the lowest levels of depression
among males (Booth et al., 1999).
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(b) Some theorists maintain that the hormonal
fluctuations associated with the female reproductive
system make females more susceptible to
depression than males.
However, research has failed to demonstrate that
the hormonal (e.g., estrogen) changes associated
with menstruation or menopause are consistently
linked to depression among females (Erdincler et
al., 2004; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994).
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(c) Some theorists maintain that changes in oxytocin
regulation during puberty cause females to be more
reactive to interpersonal stressors and, thus, more
vulnerable to depression.
However, some research has shown that oxytocin
reduces women’s reactivity to stress (e.g., by
lowering blood pressure; Grewen et al., 2005)
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Physical and Mental Health:
1. What factors account for sex differences in health?
(continued)
2. Are there sex differences in depression?
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