Gender and Its Effects on Psychopathology

This book discusses gender differences in psychopathology, including susceptibility to psychiatric disorders, the timing of their onset, their course, and their response to treatment. Dr. Ellen Frank and colleagues show how studying these differences helps clinicians in predicting patients' responses to treatment.

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Starting in embryonic development, gender has profound influences on us. Endocrine receptors in the brain affect cognition, mood, and behavior differently in males and females, and gender roles inevitably affect our psychosocial experiences. It should be no surprise that men and women have differences in vulnerability for developing many forms of psychopathology, in expression of symptoms and in response to treatment.



Gender and Its Effect on Psychopathology examines the gender differences in psychopathology, including susceptibility to psychiatric disorders, the timing of their onset, their course, and their response to treatment. Dr. Ellen Frank and colleagues show how studying these differences helps clinicians in predicting patients' responses to treatment. This book reviews


• The types of depression to which women are prone, the hormonal basis of mood disorders in women, and the specific clinical phenomenology of reproduction-related depressions
• Findings on how gender difference in socialization affect the development and symptoms of psychiatric disorders
• Studies hormonal and pubertal changes that may explain the rise in rates for depression among females relative to males between ages 10 and 15 years
• Epidemiological findings on the prevalence of depression among women and discusses plausible explanations for these findings
• Gender differences in antisocial and borderline personality disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and substance dependence


A synopsis of current research on gender differences, Gender and Its Effects on Psychopathology provides practitioners with invaluable insight into understanding and treating patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders.