Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing literature without systematic review methodology.
PubMed 22035243 · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143109
What was done
This review evaluated literature addressing three questions: whether gender differences exist in emotion regulation strategies, whether these strategies correlate similarly with psychopathology across sexes, and whether regulation differences account for gender disparities in psychiatric disorders.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data or effect sizes. Qualitatively, women report using most emotion regulation strategies more than men do, with strategies relating similarly to psychopathology across sexes. Greater rumination in women partially accounts for higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to men, whereas greater reliance on alcohol to cope in men partially accounts for higher rates of alcohol misuse compared to women.
Why it matters
It provides a conceptual framework linking specific emotion regulation strategies to differential vulnerability for internalizing versus externalizing disorders between men and women.
Limits
The abstract reports no quantitative values, sample sizes, or study selection criteria. Findings reflect a narrative synthesis of existing literature that may be biased by self-report measures and incomplete coverage of male emotion regulation strategies.
Cited by
- supports Research shows women are much less likely to suppress or deny emotions and much more likely to ruminate than men.