It has been proposed that there are two distinct approaches to grieving (as well as a third “blended” option) which are not gender-based, but which do tend to align with gender (e.g., see Doka & Martin, Grieving Beyond Gender: Understanding the Ways Men and Women Mourn, 2010). Might the instrumental-intuitive response concept be applied to how individuals deal with suicidal feelings as well as to loss? The theories of Joiner (2005) and O’Connor (2011) indicate how an individual may become suicidal and attempt or complete suicide, but not how they feel about or try to cope with the state of being suicidal and the process through which risk may escalate. An “instrumental” response to being suicidal might be characterized by an effort to maintain or regain control, to try to overcome the feelings alone, and to keep any concern to oneself. An “intuitive” response might involve less effort to master suicidal feelings, to not see them as a problem to be solved logically, to share concerns about the feelings, and to seek the help and support of others. Gender social stereotypes may clearly play a greater role in how men and women deal with perceived suicidality than with grief,
Dear Tony, check this out:
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 26;9(9):e108733. Gender-specific effects of depression and suicidal ideation in prosocial behaviors.
Cáceda R et al.
BACKGROUND:
Prosocial behaviors are essential to the ability to relate to others. Women typically display greater prosocial behavior than men. The impact of depression on prosocial behaviors and how gender interacts with those effects are not fully understood. We explored the role of gender in the potential effects of depression on prosocial behavior.
METHODS:
We examined prosocial behaviors using a modified version of the Trust Game in a clinical population and community controls. Study participants were characterized on the severity of depression and anxiety, presence of suicidal ideation, history of childhood trauma, recent stressful life events, and impulsivity. We correlated behavioral outcomes with gender and clinical variables using analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS:
The 89 participants comprised four study groups: depressed women, depressed men, healthy women and healthy men (n = 16-36). Depressed men exhibited reciprocity more frequently than healthy men. Depression induced an inversion of the gender-specific pattern of self-centered behavior. Suicidal ideation was associated with increased reciprocity behavior in both genders, and enhancement of the effect of depression on gender-specific self-centered behavior.
CONCLUSIONS:
Depression, particularly suicidal ideation, is associated with reversal of gender-specific patterns of prosocial behavior, suggesting abnormalities in sexual hormones regulation. This explanation is supported by known abnormalities in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axes found in depression.
Can J Psychiatry. 2013 Oct;58(10):570-8.
Protective factors for mental disorders and psychological distress in female, compared with male, service members in a representative sample.
Mota NP, Medved M, Whitney D, Hiebert-Murphy D, Sareen J.
CONCLUSIONS:
Social support was found to be inversely related to several negative mental health outcomes in female service members. Few differences between men and women reached statistical significance.
J Psychiatr Res. 2012 Feb;46(2):159-67.Stress and mental disorders in female military personnel: comparisons between the sexes in a male dominated profession.
Mota NP, Medved M, Wang J, Asmundson GJ, Whitney D, Sareen J.
.... The present study examined sex differences in trauma exposure, work stress, and mental disorders in the Canadian Community Health Survey - Canadian Forces Supplement, a representative sample of 5155 regular force personnel and 3286 reservists ages 16-54. Past-year DSM-IV mental disorders (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, PTSD, and alcohol dependence), lifetime exposure to 28 traumatic events, and work stress were assessed. Regular and reserve female personnel were less likely than males to experience deployment-related traumas, accidents, and several events involving violence (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] range 0.10-0.62). Women were more likely to endorse sexual trauma, partner abuse, and being stalked (AOR range 3.60-13.63). For work stress, regular force women reported higher levels of job demand and stress around social support than men, whereas regular and reserve force women reported less physical exertion. After adjusting for a range of covariates, regular female personnel were more likely than males to have PTSD (AOR 1.88, 99% CI 1.01-3.50), while reservist women were more likely than men to have depression, panic disorder, and any mood or anxiety disorder (AOR range 1.87-6.98). Both regular and reservist women had lower rates of alcohol dependence (AOR range 0.30-0.34). Clinicians working with female personnel should screen for trauma/stressors and mental disorders that are particularly common in this population.
Psychol Psychother. 2012 Sep;85(3):310-26.
Negative self-conscious emotion and grief: an actor-partner analysis in couples bereaved by stillbirth or neonatal death.
Barr P. [email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the intrapersonal (actor) and interpersonal (partner) relationships of personality proneness to negative self-conscious emotion (shame and guilt) to grief in couples 13 months after a perinatal death.
METHODS:
The participants were 63 Australian couples bereaved by stillbirth (N= 31) or neonatal death (N= 32). The actor and partner relationships of chronic shame (Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2), situational shame (Test of Self-Conscious Affect-2), and survivor guilt and omnipotence guilt (Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire-67) to grief (Perinatal Grief Scale-33) were explored using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) method of dyadic analysis.
RESULTS:
The correlations between the self-conscious emotions and grief were invariably larger in men compared with women. Chronic shame had a significant actor relationship with grief in women and men and a non-significant partner relationship in both sexes. Situational shame and survivor guilt had significant actor relationships with grief in men and significant partner relationships in women. Omnipotence guilt had a significant linear actor relationship with grief in men and a significant U-shaped quadratic actor relationship in women.
CONCLUSIONS:
Negative self-conscious emotions had intrapersonal relationship with grief in men and both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships with grief in women. A moderate level of omnipotence guilt was associated with lower grief in women. APIM dyadic analysis furthers understanding of the relationship between personality and parental grief following a perinatal death.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Psychology