Mental health in a heterogeneous clinical sample. A cross-sectional study of predictors and gender differences

Clara González-Sanguino; Berta Ausín; Miguel Ángel Castellanos; Manuel Muñoz

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09823

Mental health in a heterogeneous clinical sample. A cross-sectional study of predictors and gender differences

Heliyon. 2022 Jun 29;8(7):e09823. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09823. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Authors

Clara González-Sanguino¹, Berta Ausín², Miguel Ángel Castellanos³, Manuel Muñoz²

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Psychology Department, School of Education and Social Work, University of Valladolid, Extraordinary Chair Against Stigma UCM-Group 5, Spain.
² Clinical Psychology Department, School of Psychology, University Complutense of Madrid, Extraordinary Chair Against Stigma UCM-group 5, Spain.
³ Department of Psychobiology and Methodology in Behavioral Science, School of Psychology, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Women have been shown to be a vulnerable group in relation to mental health problems over time. Despite this, gender-focused studies are uncommon. The aim of this research is to study mental health in a sample of people with mental health problems and to analyze the differences and predictors focusing on gender.

Methods: A cross-sectional study is conducted in a heterogeneous clinical sample in terms of mental health problems (N = 160). Interviews with hetero-reported standardized questionnaires to collect the data are conducted. Descriptive analyses, mean difference and a regression analysis on mental health are carried out taking into account different sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial variables.

Results: Women in the study present worse levels of mental health and subjective severity of the disorder. The main predictors of mental health are being female, followed by severity, shorter time with the diagnosis and internalized stigma.

Conclusion: Being female is the most robust predictor of worse mental health and symptomatology. Recommendations according to the results found proposing a gender perspective are suggested.

Keywords: Gender; Mental health; Stigma; Women.