Gender differences in the community service use attitudes of older spousal caregiver-care recipient couples

Prior research has consistently overlooked spousal care recipients' attitudes toward service use within the caregiver-care recipient dyadic context. To address this gap in knowledge, this exploratory study collected data from both caregiver and care recipient spousal informants to compare their community service use attitudes by gender. This study employed a purposive sample of 30 older spousal caregiver-care recipient couples (N = 60). Service use attitude measures were adapted from the Community Service Attitude Inventory. For the entire sample, caregivers and care recipients had similar attitude scores at the group level of comparison. In the caregiver subsample, female spousal caregivers reported a higher level of confidence in service system compared with male spousal caregivers. Male spousal caregivers reported a higher worry and fear attitude compared with female spousal caregivers. In the care recipient subsample, female spousal care recipients reported a higher wait-and-see attitude compared Volume 26 Number 2 2007 with male spousal care recipients. The findings support the need to assess specific gender-related service use attitudes of older spousal couples in research and practice contexts.     

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.     

Coping with a handicapped child: differences between mothers and fathers

This paper considers coping styles of mothers and fathers of handicapped children. Cautioning against stereotyping, the authors find that mothers and fathers differ in how they appraise and cope with the stress of rearing a developmentally disabled child. The need for systematic investigation of gender-related coping styles in families with handicapped children is discussed.     

Gender differences in smoking cessation

Men and women have traditionally consumed cigarettes very differently, demonstrating widely varying patterns of prevalence during the past eight decades. For example, though the prevalence of smoking among men increased dramatically soon after the turn of the century, an analogous though less dramatic increase among women was not observed for another 25-30 years. Similarly, when a dramatic decrease in smoking prevalence among men was observed following the 1964 Surgeon General's Report, a comparable decrease among women was not seen until 15 years later. Such differences in smoking patterns have led to the widespread belief that giving up smoking is more difficult for women than it is for men. This paper reviews various studies which address this issue and suggests areas in which further research is needed.     

Gender differences in informal caring

Men have hitherto largely been invisible in research on informal care. This paper examines gender differences in informal caring, focusing on gender differences according to the relationship between the carer and care-recipient and the location of caring. The paper uses secondary analysis of the 1990–91 General Household Survey, which identified over 2700 adults as informal carers. Four per cent of men and women provide care for someone living in the same household. More women than men, 13% compared with 10%, provide care for someone living in another household. Men carers are less involved in care provision than women, providing fewer hours of care each week, and are less likely to be the main carer. However, gender differences are most marked among married carers, apart from those caring for their spouse, and least among unmarried carers. Married men can often rely on their wives to perform caring roles rather than performing them personally. Women carers are more likely to provide personal care than men carers, but the gender difference is least among those caring for their spouse or for disabled children. Cross-sex personal care is performed within the marital relationship and by parents caring for disabled children, but seldom by adult children caring for their parents or in more distant caring relationships. Evidence of cross-sex taboos in giving personal care is largely restricted to care provided in another household. Since the majority of elderly people in need of care are women, such cultural taboos may reinforce the pressure on mid-life women to care for mothers and mothers-in-law.     

Gender differences in teenage smoking

This study analyzes the patterns and correlates of gender differences in cigarette smoking in a national sample of white high school seniors in 1985. More females than males were smokers, because females had higher rates for the early stages of smoking adoption. Specifically, females were more likely to have tried smoking at least once and, among those who had tried smoking, females were more likely to have smoked more than once or twice. Gender differences in smoking varied, depending on the students' characteristics. For example, the female excess in the early stages of smoking adoption was small or absent among rural students or very religious students, apparently because traditional values inhibit smoking adoption more among females than among males. We estimated the contributions of gender differences in students' characteristics to gender differences in smoking adoption. For example, males were more involved in sports, and this appears to be one reason why males had lower rates of smoking adoption than females. On the other hand, males had more deviant behavior and attitudes, and this would be expected to contribute to greater smoking adoption by males. The findings of this study indicate important gender differences in the determinants of smoking adoption.     

Gender differences in shame in patients with binge-eating disorder

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between shame and the behavioral and attitudinal features of eating disorders in men and women diagnosed with binge-eating disorder (BED). RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Participants were 188 consecutively evaluated adults (38 men and 150 women) who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, criteria for BED. Participants were interviewed and completed a battery of measures assessing shame, behavioral and attitudinal features of eating disorders, and general psychological functioning. RESULTS: Shame did not differ significantly by gender and was not associated with BMI or binge-eating frequency. Shame was significantly associated with the attitudinal features of eating disorders, even after controlling for levels of depression and self-esteem. When considered separately by gender and controlling for depression and self-esteem, shame was associated with body dissatisfaction in men and with weight concern in women. DISCUSSION: Men and women with BED, who presented for treatment, reported similar levels of shame. Overall, while shame was related to attitudinal features, the specific associations differed by gender. For men, shame was related to how dissatisfied they felt with their bodies, whereas for women, shame was associated with concerns about weight. Interestingly, shame was not related to BMI or binge-eating frequency in men or women. These results provide preliminary support for self-conscious emotions playing different roles in men and women with BED.     

Gender differences in gynecologist communication

The intimate nature of gynecological health problems requires the physician's specific attention. On the basis of previous findings in primary care, female gynecologists are expected to communicate more affectively than men. This study addressed gender differences in gynecologist communication behavior by comparing videotapes of real-life outpatient encounters with female (N = 107) and male (N = 196) gynecologists by means of bivariate and multilevel analysis. Only a few gender differences were found: female gynecologists performed longer physical examinations, showed more global attentiveness, and asked fewer medical questions. Either the duration of the medical education or the type of statistical analysis may account for this lack of gender differences.     

Gender differences in smoking behavior

This paper investigates gender differences in smoking behavior using data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP). We develop a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method for count data models, which allows to isolate the part of the gender differential in the number of cigarettes daily smoked that can be explained by differences in observable characteristics from the part attributable to differences in coefficients. Our results reveal that the major part of the gender smoking differential is attributable to differences in coefficients indicating substantial differences in the smoking behavior between men and women.     

Gender differences in the elderly

Qualitative study that aimed at investigating present and decisive gender subjects of health and elder people's life quality. The subjects were 20 (twenty) seniors of the Programa Terceira Idade em A??o-PTIA. The semi-structured interview was used as data collection technique. From the speeches, information that answered the investigation inquietudes emerged and they made possible the formulation of three analysis categories. In the first, it stood out the low self-esteem lived by the men when they age, otherwise in the second one it was evidenced the autonomy and the freedom conquered by the senior women, and in the third category the learning happened among the old ladies who participated of PTIA. Concluding that there is influence of the gender subjects in health and life quality in aging.     

Gender differences in workplace bullying

BACKGROUND: Despite the attention that international Agencies give to the gender issue in situations of workplace bullying, few investigations have been performed on this topic. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is describe the gender differences in victims of workplace bullying observed in an Italian survey. METHODS: A total of 243 subjects (124 males and 119 females) were examined at the Centre for Occupational Stress and Harassment of the "Clinica del Lavoro Luigi Devoto" (University of Milan and IRCCS Foundation); they were selected among patients who met the criteria for being considered victims of negative actions at work leading to workplace bullying. Data regarding the person, workplace and the workplace bullying situation were collected by means of an ad hoc questionnaire. RESULTS: Analysis of the data, compared with those of IS-TAT 2002, showed a higher prevalence of females subjected to negative actions at work. In women, the risk of being subjected to negative actions leading to workplace bullying was shown to increase in the 34-44 age range and to decrease in higher age ranges; in men the risk remained elevated also after 55 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: In general, women were victims of negative actions regarding personal values related to emotional-relational factors, while men were attacked on their work performance. Sexual harassment, may mark the onset of other types of psychological harassment or can be one of its components.     

Professional Identity and Coping Behaviors in Dual‐Career couples

Abstract: This qualitative study of 15 dual‐career couples examines the connection between partners’ professional identity and coping behaviors implemented in response to work and family stressors. The analysis provided evidence that dual‐career couples enact professional and family identities that rely on being competent and responsible in both work and family roles. Coping patterns fell into similar patterns across work and family domains, but strategy use was unique by domain and reflective of couples’ belief in the value of interdependent interactions.     

Gender differences in heart diseases: Evidence from Turkey

Objectives

This study examines gender differences in heart disease experiences of individuals in Turkey by employing individual level data from a nationally representative survey.

Attitudes about infertility interventions among fertile and infertile couples.

BACKGROUND. There has been marked progress in the development of infertility interventions. This paper reports attitudes about 11 interventions for infertility. METHODS. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with each member of 185 infertile and 90 presumed fertile couples in southeastern Michigan. RESULTS. Seven of these interventions were generally viewed favorably and four were generally viewed negatively, regardless of the couple's fertility status. Infertile couples viewed all interventions, except for adoption, more favorably than did fertile couples. Multidimensional scaling was used to cluster the interventions according to similarity in endorsement. These clusters form a continuum from interventions that allow only one member of the couple to be a biological parent to the most noninvasive techniques. All clusters remain roughly equidistant from adoption, in which neither member of the couple is a biological parent. CONCLUSIONS. Interventions that produce a child who is biologically related to only one member of the couple were viewed most negatively. Members of couples who were receiving fertility treatment made finer discriminations among infertility interventions than did individuals who had not received treatment.     

Gender differences in leisure-time physical activity

Summary. Objectives: To explore the association between gender and leisure-time physical activity in a population-based sample of adults living in Brazil. To study a variety of variables possibly associated with physical activity levels. Methods: A multistage sampling of households was undertaken in Pelotas, a medium-sized Southern Brazilian city. Leisure-time physical activity was measured using the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Data on potential predictors of leisure-time physical activity behavior were collected using a standardized questionnaire. 1 344 men and 1 756 women were interviewed. Several definitions of moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity were used. Results: Regardless of the guideline used, males were more active than women. Socioeconomic level was positively associated with leisure-time physical activity in both genders. A positive dose-response between age and inactivity was found in men, but not among women. Conclusions: Because men and women have different levels of physical activity, and the variables associated with activity levels are not consistent across the genders, interventions promoting physical activity should take these differences into account. Submitted: 27 May 2005; Revisions 17 August, 17 November 2005, 20 April 2006; Accepted: 25 May 2006