Dedovic Katarina, Wadiwalla Mehereen, Engert Veronika, Pruessner Jens C
Douglas Mental Health Institute, McGill University, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2009 Jan;45(1):45-55. doi: 10.1037/a0014433.
Individual health is determined by a myriad of factors. Interestingly, simply being male or female is one such factor that carries profound implications for one's well-being. Intriguing differences between men and women have been observed with respect to vulnerability to and prevalence of particular illnesses. The activity of the major stress hormone axis in humans, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, is directly and indirectly associated with the onset and propagation of these conditions. Previous studies have shown differences between men and women at the level of stress hormone regulation, suggesting that the metabolic effects of stress may be related to susceptibility for stress-related disease. While the majority of studies have suggested that biological differences are responsible, few have also considered the role of gender socialization. In this selective review, the authors summarize evidence on sex differences and highlight some recent results from endocrinological, developmental, and neuroimaging studies that suggest an important role of gender socialization on the metabolic effects of stress. Finally, a model is proposed that integrates these specific findings, highlighting gender socialization and stress responsivity.
个体健康由众多因素决定。有趣的是，仅仅是男性或女性这一因素就对一个人的幸福有着深远影响。在特定疾病的易感性和患病率方面，已观察到男性和女性之间存在有趣的差异。人类主要应激激素轴，即下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴的活动，与这些疾病的发生和传播直接或间接相关。先前的研究表明，男性和女性在应激激素调节水平上存在差异，这表明应激的代谢效应可能与应激相关疾病的易感性有关。虽然大多数研究认为生物学差异是原因，但也很少有研究考虑到性别社会化的作用。在这篇选择性综述中，作者总结了关于性别差异的证据，并强调了内分泌学、发育学和神经影像学研究的一些最新结果，这些结果表明性别社会化对应激的代谢效应具有重要作用。最后，提出了一个整合这些具体发现的模型，突出了性别社会化和应激反应性。
