Clinical Child and Family Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Handb Clin Neurol. 2020;175:359-368. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64123-6.00024-2.
Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders, and women are at much higher risk to develop an(y) anxiety disorder. Women seem to experience more severe and long-lasting symptoms than men. Sex differences regarding etiology can be best understood from a vulnerability-stress perspective. A different exposure to psychosocial stressors and an increased biologic and/or psychologic vulnerability toward anxiety in women may contribute to the sex differences in anxiety disorders. Evidently, these findings have implications for both the diagnosis and treatment of patients with anxiety disorders. Therapists should be aware of gender bias during the diagnostic process and be sensitive for self-reporting bias (i.e., the reluctance to report "female-like" symptoms by men). Research on sex differences with respect to treatment is lacking and gender-related knowledge has rarely been integrated into clinical interventions. Interventions aimed at transdiagnostic factors that have been shown to relate to sex differences in anxiety seem rather promising and have the potential to enhance the care for both men and women with anxiety disorders.
焦虑障碍是最常见的精神障碍之一，女性患焦虑障碍的风险高得多。女性似乎比男性经历更严重和持久的症状。从易感性-应激的角度来看，关于病因的性别差异可以得到最好的理解。女性对心理社会应激源的不同暴露以及对焦虑的生物学和/或心理易感性的增加，可能导致焦虑障碍中的性别差异。显然，这些发现对焦虑障碍患者的诊断和治疗都有影响。治疗师在诊断过程中应注意性别偏见，并对自我报告偏见保持敏感（即男性不愿报告“女性化”症状）。关于治疗方面的性别差异的研究很少，性别相关的知识很少被纳入临床干预。针对已被证明与焦虑的性别差异相关的跨诊断因素的干预措施似乎很有希望，并有潜力改善男性和女性焦虑障碍患者的护理。
