Eine interessante Studie zu Geschlechterrollen und Depressionen:
Highlights
- Androgynous individuals are less likely to suffer depression while undifferentiated individuals are more susceptible to depression.
- Masculinity traits seem to be a robust protective factor for depression regardless of gender. Of note, the dominance of masculinity has declined as life expectancy increases.
- The protective effect of femininity against depression starts to emerge with the gradual increase in educational attainment and income level from 1990 to 2019.
Abstract
Background
This meta-analytic review aimed to systematically evaluate associations of depression with multiple gender role dimensions (masculinity, femininity, androgyny, and undifferentiated traits) and to determine potential moderators (participant characteristics, study instruments and sociocultural factors) of the relationship.
Methods
Of 4481 initially identified records in three electronic databases, 58 studies published 1978 to 2021 were included for meta-analysis.
Results
(1) Association of depression and gender role is moderated by study year and human development indices. (2) Masculinity is a protective factor for depression, while this dominance has declined as life expectancy increases. (3) A negative, weak but significant association between depression and femininity is observed in women, and college students, which starts to emerge with the gradual increase in the national education and income index from 1990 to 2019. (4) Androgynous individuals reported the lowest level of depression as compared with other gender role orientations (masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated trait group). This disparity is becoming more extreme with life expectancy and per capita income index increases.
Limitations
English-language studies were only included in this review.
Conclusions
Androgyny might be the most ideal gender role protecting both women and men from depression.
Das erste schöne an dieser Studie ist natürlich, dass von feministischer Seite gerne vorgebracht wird, dass Männer weiblicher werden müssen, mehr über ihre Gefühle reden müssen, damit sie weniger depressiv sind oder weniger Selbstmord begehen. Es scheint aber eher anders herum zu sein: Männlichkeit schützt vor Depressionen
Wie passt das aber zur höheren Selbstmordrate?
Meine Vermutung wäre ja, dass hier mit den Geschlechterrollen nur ein Symptom bezeichnet wird, aber nicht der eigentliche Grund, der gut in der Biologie hinter den Geschlechterrollen stecken könnte.
Testosteron ist ein natürliches Antidepressivum, siehe etwa
Highlights
- Testosterone has antidepressant effects whereby the underlying mechanisms are still unknown.
- Promoted neuroplasticity and the activation of the serotonin system may underlie the antidepressant effect of testosterone.
- Studies suggest that a combination of testosterone and current antidepressants enhance antidepressant-induced neurogenesis.
- Testosterone actions within the HPA axis and during inflammation may additionally contribute to the mood enhancing effects.
- Not only testosterone alone, but also its conversion to estradiol may contribute to the observed antidepressant effects.
Andere Studien dazu:
Ein Nachteil in der Hinsicht ist, dass Antidepressivums bizarrerweise auch das Selbstmordrisiko erhöhen können. Ein Depressiver hat häufig keinerlei Handlungswille, ist passiv und kann sich zu nichts aufraffen. Nimmt er dann Antidepressiva wird er gerade dadurch evtl wieder handlungsfähiger und setzt Entschlüsse eher tatsächlich um. Ist seine Lage dann subjektiv hilflos und sieht er keinen Ausweg, dann ist der Entschluss dann evtl, dass er eben sein Leben beenden muss.
Aber wer eben gar nicht erst in eine tatsächlich depressive Phase kommt, der ist eben besser dran und dabei kann Testosteron eben helfen.
Das bedeutet nicht, dass die simple Einnahme von Testosteron bei einer bereits bestehenden Depression hilfreich sein muss, aber es kann eben sein, dass Leute, die mehr pränatales und postnatales Testosteron haben seltener depressiv werden und gleichzeitig eher männlichere Geschlechterrollen leben
Aus einer Besprechung der obigen Studie:
“We inferred that this may be an important mechanism for the gender difference in the prevalence of depression, as women are almost twice as likely to suffer from depression as men. Therefore, we asked whether girls/women suffer from high-risk depression just because of their biological sex? We searched for answers from the past literature and found that psycho-social gender (e.g., gender role) might be an effective indicator of predicting depression susceptibility, even more accurate than biological sex, because personal emotions are easily affected by social factors.”
To examine this further, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis using 58 peer-reviewed studies published between 1978 and 2021 that included measures of depressive symptoms and gender roles.
“Given the number of studies about gender roles and depression has increased significantly over the past 40 years, and the gender role issues might have changed over time and/or vary by nation, my co-authors and I decided to systematically re-evaluate depression’s relationship with gender roles and to determine the potential moderating factors,” Li explained.
Most of the studies assessed masculinity and femininity using the Bem Sex Role Inventory or the Personality Attributes Questionnaire. Both scientific surveys have a similar format: Participants are shown a list of traits (such as “affectionate” and “independent”) and are asked to indicate how well each item describes them.
Li and his colleagues found a robust negative relationship between masculinity and depression among both men and women. In other words, individuals with high levels of masculine traits experienced lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to individuals with lower levels of masculinity. The researchers also found a weak negative relationship between feminine traits and depressive symptoms, particularly among those of higher education and those living in countries with a higher national income.
Those with high levels of both masculine and feminine traits (androgynous) were the least at risk of depressive symptoms.
“The main findings suggest that androgynous gender role traits can protect against depression, regardless of sex and age,” Li told PsyPost. “To be specific, both female and male individuals who strongly endorse masculine traits (e.g., stands up well, never give up, active, and decisive) are less susceptible to depression, and feminine traits (e.g., warm, tender, gentle, affectionate, sympathetic, and understanding) may also allow them to benefit from social support as protective factors for depression.”
“Conversely, conformity to traditional and typical gender role norms (i.e., boys/men should be strong but not warm; while girls/women should be understanding but not active) may promote distress and some mental disorders, particularly depression. Accordingly, the development of individual androgynous traits is expected to be an effective process to reduce the global prevalence of depression and gender disparity.”
Interessante Interpretation. Sie stellen fest, dass männlichere Geschlechterrollen helfen und mutmaßen dann, dass bestimmte Teile davon evtl dennoch eher zu Depressionen führen können ohne das auf Daten zu stützen um beim alten Narrativ zu landen.
“Given that gender differences in depression start to emerge during adolescence, a stronger focus on effective educational activities (including K-12 education, community, and family) should be implemented to promote and encourage androgynous gender role traits before people enter colleges and even across the life-span,” Li added.
Von da aus kommt sie zu der seltsamen Empfehlung einfach Geschlechterrollen aufzugeben. Was erst recht eine sinnlose Entscheidung wäre, wenn der Ursprung der Rollen die Biologie ist. Aber es scheint mir auch keine Aussage zu sein, die sich aus ihren Daten ergibt.
Gefällt mir:
Like Wird geladen …
Alles Evolution 