gender-differences-in-male-depression-and-suicide-risk | depression | conditions

Suicide is the leading cause of violent death in the United States with the rates being significantly higher among males. Gender differences in the presentation of depression may lead to an underrecognition of depression and thus suicide risk among males. The present study investigated whether a measure of male depression symptoms was associated with suicide risk and whether this relationship was moderated by gender. Participants were 944 community-dwelling adults from the United States recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Male depression symptoms were measured by the Male Depression Risk Scale. Suicide risk was measured by the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised. Males had higher levels of male depression than females, but similar levels of conventional depression symptomology. Male depression was significantly associated with suicide risk independent of conventional depression symptoms. Gender moderated this relationship, with suicide risk being greater for females with high levels of male depression symptoms. The types of male depression symptoms conveying the greatest risk were emotional suppression, alcohol use (in females only), somatic symptoms, and risk-taking behaviors. Assessing for and addressing symptoms of male depression in treatment may help to reduce suicide risk among both males and females. Read the full article here.

"Ruifeng Cui and Amy Fiske.Violence and Gender.ahead of print http://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2020.0087

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