Summary
In a sample of more than 2000 patients from the Department of Psychiatry of the Free University of Berlin (58.8% men, and 41.2% women), the sex differences in the diagnostic distribution and in the severity of the depressive symptomatology were investigated on the basis of data documented by the AMP system. Due to patient selection by the hospital, men with depressive neuroses were found to be over-represented contrary to expectation; depressive psychoses, however, were prevalent in women as expected. In the total group of patients, depressive symptomatology at the symptom and syndrome levels prevailed in women. Within homogeneous diagnostic groups, depressiveness in minor depressive disorders like depressive neuroses was more severe in women, but in psychotic depression men were more seriously depressed than women. Attempts are made to interprete these findings on the basis of constitution-biological and role-theoretical concepts, but especially on the basis of sex-specific help-seeking behaviour.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adelstein AM, Downham DY, Stein Z, Susser MW (1968) The epidemiology of mental illness in an English city. Soc Psychiatry 3:47–59
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Methodik und Dokumentation in der Psychiatric AMDP (Hrsg) (1983) Testmanual zum AMDP-System: Empirische Studien zur Psychopathologie. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Bredenkamp J (1972) Der Signifikanztest in der psychologischen Forschung. Akademische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt
Clancy K, Gove W (1974) Sex differences in mental illness: An analysis of response bias in self-reports. Am J Sociol 80:205–224
Cleary PD, Mechanic D, Greenley JR (1982) Sex differences in medical care utilization: An empirical investigation. J Health Soc Behav 23:106–119
D'Arcy C, Schmitz JA (1979) Sex differences in the utilization of health services for psychiatric problems in Saskatchewan. Can J Psychiatry 24:19–27
Davis EE, Fine-Davis M, Meekan G (1982) Demographic determinants of perceived well-being in eight European countries. Soc Indicat Res 10:341–358
Dilling H, Weyerer S (1978) Epidemiologie psychischer Störungen und psychiatrische Versorgung. Urban und Schwarzenberg, München Wien Baltimore
Dohrenwend BP, Dohrenwend BS (1976) Sex differences and psychiatric disorders. Am J Sociol 81:1447–1454
Egeland JA, Hostetter AM (1983) Amish study. I. Affective disorders among the Amish, 1976–1980. Am J Psychiatry 140:56–61
Eme RF (1979) Sex differences in childhood psychopathology: a review. Psychol Bull 86:574–595
Fähndrich E, Gebhardt R, Neumann H (1981) Zum Problem der Diagnosesicherung des hirnorganischen Psychosyndroms. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 229:239–248
Fox JW (1980) Gove's specific sex-role theory of mental illness: a research note. J Health Soc Behav 21:260–267
Gebhardt R, Klimitz H (1983) deεschlechtsunterschiede in der ärztlichen Praxis. In: Lockot R, Rosemeier HP (Hrsg) Ärztliches Handeln und Intimität: Eine medizin-psychologische Perspektive. Enke, Stuttgart, S 154–162
Gebhardt R, Pietzcker A, Freudenthal K, Langer C (1981) Die Bildung von Syndromen im AMP-System. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 231:93–109
Gove WR (1972) The relationship between sex roles, marital status, and mental illness. Soc Forces 51:34–44
Gove WR (1978) Sex differences in mental illness among adult men and women: An evaluation of four questions raised regarding the evidence on the higher rates of women. Soc Sci Med 12:187–198
Gove WR (1979) Sex differences in the epidemiology of mental disorders: evidence and explanations. In: Gomberg ES, Franks V (eds) Gender and disordered behavior. Sex differences in psychopathology. Brunner and Mazel, New York, pp 23–68
Gove WR, Tudor JF (1973) Adult sex roles and mental illness. Am J Sociol 78:812–835
Horwitz AV (1977) The pathways into psychiatric treatment: some differences between men and women. J Health Soc Behav 18:169–178
Kessler RC, Brown RL, Broman CL (1981) Sex differences in psychiatric help-seeking: evidence from four large-scale surveys. J Health Soc Behav 22:49–64
Lin K-M, Inui TS, Kleinman AM, Womack WM (1982) Sociocultural determinants of the help-seeking behaviour of patients with mental illness. J Nerv Ment Dis 170:78–85
Milazzo-Sayre L (1977) Admission rates to state and county psychiatric hospitals by age, sex, and race, United States 1975. Statistical Note No. 140. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Rockville, Maryland
Nie NH, Hull CH (1983) SPSS 9. Statistik-Programm-System für die Sozialwissenschaften. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart New York
Pietzcker A (1983) Psychiatrische Klassifikationen. Empirische Untersuchungen zur psychiatrischen Diagnostik und Klassifikation auf der Grundlage des AMP-Systems. Habilitationsschrift, Berlin
Pollitt J (1977) Sex difference and the mind. Proc R Soc Med 70:145–148
Tudor W, Tudor JF, Gove WR (1977) The effect of sex role differences on the social control of mental illness. J Health Soc Behav 18:98–112
Uchtenhagen A (1975) Psychische Störungen bei Frauen. Schweiz Arch Neurol Psychiatr 117:55–64
Verbrugge LM (1976) Sex differentials in morbidity and mortality in the Unites States. Soc Biol 23:275–296
Warheit GJ, Holzer CE, Schwab JJ (1973) An analysis of social class and racial differences in depressive symptomatology: a community study. J Health Soc Behav 14:291–299
Weissman MM, Klerman GL (1979) Sex differences and the epidemiology of depression. In: Gomberg ES, Franks V (eds) Gender and disordered behavior: Sex differences in psychopathology. Brunner and Mazel, New York, pp 381–425
Zerssen D von (1980) Konstitution. In: Kisker HP (Hrsg) Psychiatric der Gegenwart, Band I/2. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, S 642f.
Zerssen D von, Weyerer S (1982) Sex differences in rates of mental disorders. Int J Ment Health 11:9–45
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H. Hippius for this 60th birthday
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gebhardt, R., Pietzcker, A. Sex differences in the psychopathology of inpatients. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 235, 92–96 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00633478
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00633478