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PubMed1998

Social behavior correlates of cortisol activity in child care: gender differences and time-of-day effects.

The relations between social behavior and daily patterns of a stress-sensitive hormone production were examined in preschool children (N = 75) attending center-based child care. Three behavioral dimensions, shy/anxious/internalizing, angry/aggressive/externalizing, and social competence, were assessed by teacher report and classroom observation, and their relations with 2 measures of cortisol activity, median (or typical) levels and reactivity (quartile range score between second and third quartile values) were explored. Cortisol-behavior relations differed by gender: significant associations were found for boys but not for girls. Specifically, for boys externalizing behavior was positively associated with cortisol reactivity, while internalizing behavior was negatively associated with median cortisol. Time of day of cortisol measurement affected the results. Surprisingly, median cortisol levels rose from morning to afternoon, a pattern opposite to that of the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol. This rise in cortisol over the day was positively correlated with internalizing behavior for boys. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the development of hormone-behavior relations are discussed.

Child Behavior↗

PubMed1998

Gender differences in health and health actions among community-dwelling elders.

This secondary analysis of data from a study of elders' health examined gender differences in the psychological and physical health and the health actions made in response to specific physical complaints in a random sample of 491 community-dwelling older adults (mean age of 75.3 years). Significant gender differences in anxiety, depression, and body awareness were found, although there were no differences in self-assessed health or total number of health problems reported. There were some gender differences in the types of health problems experienced. Subjects tended to use self-care actions, particularly over-the-counter medications and home remedies, more so than professional consultation. Different patterns of care emerged for women and men, with women somewhat more inclined to use self-care and men more likely to seek professional consultation.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

Gender differences in body fat of low- and high-body-mass children: relationship with body mass index.

The primary objective of this study was to determine gender differences in total body fat mass (TBFM) and body fat distribution (subcutaneous fat mass, SFM; and internal fat mass, IFM) in a cross-sectional sample of 280 children. Measurements of the body composition of 141 boys and 139 girls, all apparently healthy and aged 3-6 years were made using bioelectrical impedance. Determinations of impedance were made using a four-terminal impedance analyzer (TP-95K; Toyo Physical, Fukuoka, Japan). Lean body mass (LBM) was calculated using a previously published equation [Goran MI, Kaskoun MC, Carpenter WH, Poehlman ET, Ravussin E, Fontvieikke A-M (1993) Estimating body composition of young children by using bioelectrical resistance. J Appl Physiol 75: 1776-1780]. SFM was calculated using a modification of the equation derived by Skerjl [Skerjl B, Brozek J, Hunt EE (1953) Subcutaneous fat and age changes in body build and body form in women. Am J Phys Anthrop 11: 577-580] and Davies [Davies PSW, Jones PRM, Norgan NG (1986) The distribution of subcutaneous and internal fat in man. Ann Hum Biol 13: 189-192]. The main modifications of the equation in the present study were the introduction of: (1) mean thickness of adipose tissue over body surface/2, and (2) skin mass. IFM was calculated as the difference between TBFM and SFM. The body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) was calculated from the formula: body mass/height2. For each gender, the subjects in the lowest and highest 25th percentiles were designated as "low body mass" and "high body mass", respectively. In the present study, no gender differences in absolute TBFM, SFM and IFM were observed in either of these groups. In contrast, gender differences in relative TBFM (%Fat) and SFM (SFM/mass) were evident in girls. However, the four subgroups were similar in terms of relative IFM (IFM/mass). The TBFM was independently related to SFM, IFM and %Fat in both genders after adjustment for BMI; however, there was no significant association of SFM with IFM after adjustment for BMI in any group. Even after adjustment for BMI, IFM was independently related to %Fat in both genders, although SFM was not independently related to %Fat in any group except low-body-mass boys. This study shows that relative TBFM and SFM are higher in high-body-mass groups and tend to be higher in girls than in boys, and that the higher %Fat in high-body-mass girls than in high-body-mass boys appears to be associated with internal adipose tissue deposits. External adipose tissue mass does not appear to be related to the higher %Fat levels in high-body-mass girls. In addition, subcutaneous fat mass appears to be higher in low-body-mass girls than in low-body-mass boys, although this observation needs confirmation using more valid measures of subcutaneous fat such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed1998

Gender differences in insulin-like growth factor and bone mineral density association in old age: the Rancho Bernardo Study.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) clearly plays a role in bone metabolism and maintenance, as evidenced by in vitro and animal studies. In clinical studies, the age-related decrease in IGF-I parallels the age-related decrease in bone mineral density (BMD), but several age-adjusted cross-sectional studies show no consistent association of IGF-I and BMD. We report here a cross-sectional study of serum IGF-I and BMD levels in 483 men and 455 postmenopausal women not using estrogen; subjects were 55 years of age and older, community-dwelling, ambulatory, and unselected for bone density. IGF-I was measured by a highly specific radioimmunoassay. BMD was measured at the lumbar spine and hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Men had higher IGF-I and BMD levels than women. In age-adjusted and age-stratified models, IGF-I was associated with BMD only in women (test for interaction, p < 0.0001). Gender differences persisted in gender-specific multiple regression analyses adjusted for age, body mass index, thiazide diuretic use, current smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, and weight change; IGF-I was significantly associated with BMD at the spine (p = 0.0001) and hip (p = 0.02) in women, but not in men (p's > 0.6). Circulating estradiol levels were not associated with IGF-I levels in either gender, testosterone was inversely associated with IGF-I and only in men. This striking gender difference has not been described previously. Its etiology is unknown. The answer could lead to improved understanding of gender differences in osteoporosis and in response to treatment with IGF-I or growth hormone.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

PubMed2006

Ethnic and gender differences in ambulatory blood pressure trajectories: results from a 15-year longitudinal study in youth and young adults.

BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies demonstrated ethnic and gender differences in ambulatory blood pressure patterns, but little is known about the longitudinal development of these differences. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure was measured up to 12 times (5 times on average) over a 15-year period in 312 African Americans (AAs) and 351 European Americans aged 7 to 30 years. Multivariate individual growth curves across age were created for daytime and nighttime blood pressure jointly. For both daytime and nighttime systolic blood pressure (SBP), AAs and males had higher levels (P<0.001) than European Americans and females. Males also showed a greater increase with age (P<0.001) than females. For nighttime SBP, a faster increase of SBP with age (P<0.01) in AAs was additionally observed. The ethnic difference in nighttime SBP levels and its increase with age were significantly larger than in daytime SBP. For daytime and nighttime diastolic blood pressure, AAs had higher levels than European Americans (P<0.001), and this difference was significantly larger at night. From late adolescence onward, males showed a greater increase in diastolic blood pressure with age than females. Ethnic and gender differences persisted after adjustment for height, body mass index, socioeconomic status, and stress-related coping styles. Family history of essential hypertension explained ethnic differences in daytime SBP. CONCLUSIONS: We observed significant ethnic and gender differences in longitudinal trajectories of ambulatory blood pressure in youth and young adults. The blunted nocturnal decline and its exacerbation with age in AAs corroborate and extend findings of cross-sectional studies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Timing conditions and the magnitude of gender differences on the Mental Rotations Test.

In two experiments, we examined the effect of timing conditions on the magnitude of gender differences in performance on the Mental Rotations Test (MRT). In Experiment 1, each of 196 females and 119 males was administered the MRT via a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation in one of five timing conditions (15, 20, 25, 30, and 40 sec). The participants were exposed to each MRT item for the period specified in the assigned timing condition. Experiment 2 was conducted to address flaws found in Experiment 1. Accordingly, each of 105 females and 105 males was individually administered the task in one of three timing conditions (15 sec, 25 sec, or unlimited duration). The results of both experiments showed that the magnitude of gender differences was similar across timing conditions when a conventional scoring method was used. An analysis of guessing behavior generally indicated that men tend to show little effect of timing conditions, whereas women's propensity to guess increases when they are given more time to respond. In general, the results supported an interpretation of gender differences on the MRT that relies on the joint operation of performance factors and level of spatial ability.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Gender differences in microsomal metabolic activation of hepatotoxic clivorine in rat.

The gender differences in the in vitro microsomal metabolic activation of hepatotoxic clivorine, a representative naturally occurring hepatotoxic otonecine type pyrrolizidine alkaloid, in Sprague-Dawley rats and their relation to the gender differences in susceptibility to clivorine intoxication were reported in the present study. Clivorine-induced liver damage in the male rat via metabolic activation to form the reactive pyrrolic ester followed by covalent binding to liver tissue constituents has been reported previously by our research group. The present study demonstrated, for the first time, that cytochromes p450 3A1 and 3A2, which are constitutively expressed in the male rat, might play a significant role in the metabolic activation of clivorine in the rat. Thus, in the male rat, the metabolic activation by liver microsomes to form the reactive pyrrolic ester was found as the only direct metabolic pathway of clivorine followed by subsequent formation of the toxic tissue-bound pyrroles leading to hepatotoxicity. In the case of the female rat, a less significant metabolic activation was observed, whereas the formations of two novel nonpyrrolic metabolites were determined as the predominant biotransformations. None of the four cDNA-expressed rat enzymes (cytochrome p450 2C12, 2E1, 3A1, 3A2) tested could catalyze the formation of these two new metabolites. Furthermore, the female rat (LD(50) = 114 +/- 9 mg/kg, i.p.) was found to be significantly less susceptible to clivorine intoxication than the male rat (LD(50) = 91 +/- 3 mg/kg, i.p.). Therefore, the results suggested that a significantly lower metabolic activation due to the lack of cytochrome p450 3A1 and p450 3A2 activities mainly accounted for the smaller susceptibility of the female rat to clivorine intoxication.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Gender differences in prospectively versus retrospectively assessed smoking withdrawal symptoms.

Investigations of gender differences in the frequency and/or intensity of smoking withdrawal symptomatology have yielded conflicting findings. Several studies using measures collected both before abstinence and at the peak of symptomatology have failed to find gender differences. Yet, when asked to rate symptomatology experienced during past quit attempts, women have repeatedly been shown to endorse significantly more symptomatology than men. A possible explanation is that, although men and women show no differences when rating symptoms prospectively, women remember their past withdrawal symptoms as being more severe than do men, either because women exaggerate the difficulties they experience or because men downplay them. To test this hypothesis, and to determine whether men or women were more accurate in their recollections, we combined data from two studies in which subjects were asked to assess symptoms prospectively following 2 days of abstinence, and also to rate withdrawal during past quit attempts. As predicted, we found the effects of abstinence to be similar when assessed prospectively but different when assessed retrospectively, with women reporting more symptomatology than men. Men whose retrospective and prospective responses were discordant consistently underestimated the likelihood of experiencing symptomatology; women showed no consistent trends. The total number of symptoms reported retrospectively by women was similar to the total number reported prospectively, whereas men significantly underestimated the number of symptoms that they actually experienced. These findings may suggest ways in which treatment strategies can be tailored to the differences between male and female styles in recalling past experiences with abstinence from smoking.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Gender differences in drinking: why do they still exist?

AIMS: The paper discusses the kinds of reasoning that have been presented as possible mechanisms and reasons for gender differences in alcohol consumption. DESIGN AND METHODS: An overview of the existing literature from different countries is presented. FINDINGS: The existing studies provide a picture of great cultural variance in patterns of alcohol use among men and women. The gender differences in drinking behaviour have been shown to be linked with many aspects of biological differences between men and women leading to women's greater vulnerability to alcohol, of women's and men's differing needs, reasons and motivations in relation to drinking, of gender-specific roles in other areas of life and of ways in which societies regulate peoples' behaviour, often giving women the role of warden or moderator of others' drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The gender differences in drinking behaviour continue to be considerable and are found in all cultures studied so far. Several studies have argued for reasons underlying these differences, but they still remain largely unexplained.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed2000

Gender differences in the EEG of abstinent cocaine abusers.

Gender differences in the EEG were explored in cocaine-abusing individuals not seeking treatment. Twenty currently abstinent cocaine-abusing females aged 21-41 were studied. Their cocaine use history was matched to 20 currently abstinent cocaine-abusing males. Twelve female and 20 male non-drug-abusing individuals served as a control group. Resting eyes closed EEG was recorded from 8 leads. The males who used cocaine had elevated EEG beta (p<0.0125) and reduced alpha (p<0.0125) when compared to the cocaine-abusing females and control subjects. These findings suggest that the EEG of cocaine-abusing women may be more normal than that of cocaine-abusing men. Such gender-specific differences for cocaine-abusing populations may require gender-specific treatment to improve outcome.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Gender differences in patients with binge eating disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined gender differences in patients with binge eating disorder (BED). METHOD: Participants were 182 adults (35 male, 147 female) who were consecutively evaluated for outpatient clinical trials and met criteria for BED as outlined in the 4th ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They were administered a battery of measures to examine developmental, eating and weight-related disturbances, and psychological features associated with BED. RESULTS: Men and women did not differ significantly on several developmental variables (age at first overweight, age at first diet, age at onset of regular binge eating, or number of weight cycles). Men had significantly higher current body mass index (BMI), highest adult BMI, and were significantly more likely to be classified as obese. Men and women did not differ significantly on measures of current eating disorder features (binge eating, eating concerns, weight or shape concerns) but women reported significantly greater body image dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. Men and women did not differ significantly on current depression or self-esteem but men reported a greater frequency of past drug abuse problems. DISCUSSION: Although men and women who present for treatment for BED show many similarities in current eating disorder features, we observed a number of gender differences on important developmental and physical variables as well as associated psychological features.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Gender differences in physical symptoms and illness behavior. A health diary study.

Recent studies on symptom perception have highlighted the role of psychological factors, such as mood states and external involvement, in physical symptom reporting. To date, the consistently found higher physical symptom reports in women have not been studied from this perspective. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological determinants of gender differences in physical symptoms and illness behavior on a daily basis. During four adjacent weeks, a healthy primary care sample of 92 women and 61 men kept health diaries, containing scales for physical symptoms, illness behavior, external information and positive and negative mood. The daily health records showed the typical gender difference in physical symptoms, but not in illness behavior. Negative mood was found to be the strongest predictor of physical symptoms. Physical symptoms in turn were the strongest predictor of illness behavior. The modest gender difference in physical symptoms disappeared after controlling for positive and negative mood. Thus, mood states seem to mediate gender differences in symptom reporting.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Sleep in old age: focus on gender differences.

A meta-analysis was conducted on 27 studies addressing gender differences on 31 indices of sleeping behavior of persons 58 years of age and older. All pertinent, original research articles published in the United States in the last decade were included. New findings were compared with summaries from earlier studies to complete a picture of current knowledge. Effect sizes were calculated for 23 variables related to sleep continuity, architecture, and pathology; and effect sizes were averaged across studies. Gender difference effect sizes were small to moderate, with men tending to show more objective changes from the patterns of healthy youthful sleep. Results underscore the importance of health providers having an understanding of gender and age in relation to sleep. Findings suggest the need to protect the lighter, more fragile sleep of the elderly; to encourage regularity in sleep patterns; and to use sleep-inducing medications with caution.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

Gender differences and factors associated with the receipt of thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a community-wide perspective.

In spite of national interest in gender differences in the presentation and management of chronic disease, limited information is available about possible gender differences in the receipt of thrombolytic therapy after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). As part of an ongoing community-based study of AMI, we examined gender differences in the receipt of thrombolytic therapy among 2885 patients with confirmed AMI. The study sample consisted of 1680 males and 1205 females with validated AMI who were admitted to 16 hospitals in the Worcester, Massachusetts, metropolitan area in four study periods between 1986 and 1991. During the years under study, 24.4% of men and 14.4% of women received thrombolytic therapy. Increases over time in the use of thrombolytic therapy were seen in both men (13.9% in 1986; 31.6% in 1991) and women (3.2% in 1986; and 19.0% in 1991). After controlling for a variety of factors that might affect use of thrombolytic agents, younger age, absence of a history of either congestive heart failure or stroke, and experiencing a Q-wave AMI were associated with receipt of thrombolytic therapy in both men and women; having an anterior AMI also was associated with use of thrombolytic agents in men. Women without as compared with those with a history of angina pectoris were significantly more likely to receive thrombolytics. Men who had Medicare insurance were significantly less likely to receive thrombolytics than were men with other types of health insurance. When this analysis was restricted to patients who were seen in area-wide hospitals within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms suggestive of AMI, similar factors were associated with the receipt of thrombolytic agents in men and women. The results of this community-wide study suggest a marked increase over the 5-year study period in the use of thrombolytic therapy in both men and women, with a greater relative increase observed in women. A relatively similar profile of patients likely to receive thrombolytic therapy was seen in both men and women.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2004

Gender differences in pain perception: a signal detection theory approach.

BACKGROUND: Overseas studies suggest women report more pain and are more vulnerable to chronic pain conditions compared with men, however, it is unclear whether this difference in pain perception is due to sensory or non-sensory factors such as anxiety. Since gender differences in pain perception may have important implications for pain management, it is crucial that the relationship between pain, gender and anxiety in this culture be clarified. METHODS: The Signal Detection Theory Approach was used to determine gender differences in sensory discrimination [P(A)] and response bias (B). One hundred and twenty six Hong Kong Chinese adults responded to thirty pairs of thermal stimuli (36 degrees C-48 degrees C) and their responses to these stimuli were analyzed by computer software. The adapted Chinese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) was used to assess state and trait anxiety of participants. RESULTS: Compared with men, women showed enhanced sensory discriminability (P = 0.004) and were less stoical in their response to pain (P = 0.03). Although there was no significant gender difference in state and trait anxiety, sensory discrimination was positively correlated with state anxiety (r = 0.19) and response bias was negatively correlated with trait anxiety (r = -0.18). The content validity index for the STAI-Y was 0.9 and the co-efficient alpha for reliability for state and trait anxiety was 0.88 and 0.92, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced sensory discriminability in women may explain why women report more pain and seek healthcare more frequently compared with men. Men showed more stoical response to pain possibly because of gender-role expectations. The Signal Detection Theory approach was instrumental in assessing the sensory and non-sensory dimensions of pain perception. Awareness of the effects of gender and anxiety in pain perception will enable clinicians to be more efficient pain managers.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Gender difference in postprandial lipemia : importance of visceral adipose tissue accumulation.

Insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-cholesterol concentrations are common features of a plurimetabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of coronary artery disease. Although it has been proposed that the development of atherosclerosis through alterations in plasma lipid levels could be a postprandial phenomenon, most studies on gender differences in plasma lipoprotein-lipid concentrations have reported fasting levels. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the response of postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoproteins to a standardized meal in 63 men and 25 women. In addition to the measurement of fasting and postprandial plasma lipid levels, numerous physical and metabolic variables were assessed, including body composition by underwater weighing and body fat distribution by computed tomography. Although no gender difference was noted in total body fat mass, men were characterized by a preferential accumulation of abdominal adipose tissue as revealed by an increased waist circumference and a greater visceral adipose tissue accumulation (50% difference) compared with women (P<0.001). Men also showed a greater plasma triglyceride response (P<0.005) as well as increased postprandial insulin and free fatty acid levels compared with women (P<0.01). Visceral adipose tissue was significantly associated with the postprandial triglyceride response in both genders (men: r=0.49, P<0. 0001; women: r=0.43, P<0.05). Finally, when men and women were matched for visceral adipose tissue accumulation, the gender difference in postprandial plasma triglyceride response was eliminated. Thus results of the present study suggest that the well known gender difference in visceral adipose tissue accumulation is an important contributing factor involved in the exaggerated postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoprotein response noted in men compared with women.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed1992

Gender differences in schizophrenia in three cultures. Results of the WHO collaborative study on psychiatric disability.

As part of a systematic research project on the influence of gender factors on age at onset, symptomatology, and course of schizophrenia, data on gender differences in age at onset and symptomatology of schizophrenia from the WHO Collaborative Study "On Assessment and Reduction of Psychiatric Disability" were compared between seven research centres of three different cultural regions. Results on age at onset of five European centres confirmed the well known fact of an earlier onset in men. The earlier onset in women seen in Khartoum and Ankara could be attributed to patient selection because male/female differences in age at onset and male/female ratios in the various samples covary. In the Islamic centres no relevant gender differences in real age at onset and in symptomatology could be detected as probable causes of earlier hospitalisation of women. Major gender differences in symptomatology were found in the Balkan centres of Sofia and Zagreb with a high prevalence of delusional symptoms in women and depression in men. In Western Europe centres, nuclear schizophrenic symptoms were equally prevalent in either sex, while nonspecific symptoms like irritability and tiredness (more frequent in women) and maladaptive illness behaviours like alcohol abuse and social withdrawal (more frequent in men) differed between the sexes. Explanatory hypotheses and the implications of these results are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Gender differences in visuo-spatial processing: the importance of distinguishing between passive storage and active manipulation.

The study here reported investigates the hypothesis that gender differences in visuo-spatial abilities are mainly confined to active processing tasks. Male and female participants were required to perform passive tasks involving the recall of previously memorized positions within matrices of different sizes, as well as active tasks in which they had to mentally follow a pathway in the same matrices. The results confirmed that male superiority became evident as the active processing requirements increased while only marginal gender difference was reported in passive tasks. To strengthen the specific role of the active-passive distinction in identifying gender differences, confounding factors such as type of material and use of verbal strategies were ruled out. These findings, in line with a number of studies on individual differences, high-light the importance of addressing visuo-spatial ability as a multicomponential cognitive function which entails different type of visuo-spatial processing or mechanisms (i.e., active processing and passive storage of information) rather than as a unitary concept.

Adolescent↗