Department of Sociology, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2012 Jul;16(5):1072-80. doi: 10.1007/s10995-011-0834-5.
The gendered nature of special health care needs in childhood is an important yet understudied area. Although gendered differences in the prevalence of special health care needs have been documented, there is less knowledge about the factors which contribute to those differences. Two research questions guide this inquiry. First, is the gender gap consistent across child special health care need indicators? Second, to what extent is the gender gap in special health care needs driven by behavioral conditions? We use multiple indicators from the U.S. National Survey of Children's Health to expand our understanding about the dynamic relationship between gender and childhood health. There are clear gender differences in the prevalence of special health care needs. Boys are more likely than girls to have special health care needs overall and on the five separate components examined (medication, more care than typical, limitations, special therapies, and educational or behavioral problem). This gender gap is dynamic and varies by indicator; while behavioral conditions play a role, it remains even after controlling for behavioral conditions. The reasons for the gender differences appear to be both biological and social but much remains unknown about this pattern.
儿童特殊保健需求的性别差异是一个重要但研究不足的领域。尽管已经有文献记录了特殊保健需求中性别差异的普遍性，但对于导致这些差异的因素知之甚少。有两个研究问题指导着这项研究。首先，儿童特殊保健需求指标的性别差距是否一致？其次，特殊保健需求中的性别差距在多大程度上是由行为状况驱动的？我们使用来自美国儿童健康全国调查的多个指标来扩展我们对性别与儿童健康之间动态关系的理解。特殊保健需求的患病率存在明显的性别差异。总体而言，男孩比女孩更有可能有特殊的保健需求，而且在五个单独检查的组成部分上也是如此（药物、比典型情况更多的护理、限制、特殊治疗以及教育或行为问题）。这种性别差距是动态的，因指标而异；虽然行为状况起着一定的作用，但即使在控制了行为状况后，这种差距仍然存在。性别差异的原因似乎既有生物学的，也有社会的，但对于这种模式，仍有很多未知。
