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Some gender disparities in mood disorders may be due to wage gap

Risk for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder was significantly higher among women who earned less than their male peers, matched for education and years of experience, according to recent findings.

“Our results show that some of the gender disparities in depression and anxiety may be due to the effects of structural gender inequality in the workforce and beyond,” Jonathan Platt, a PhD student at the Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, said in a press release. “The social processes that sort women into certain jobs, compensate them less than equivalent male counterparts, and create gender disparities in domestic labor have material and psychosocial consequences.”

Jonathan Platt

To assess whether the wage gap explained gender disparities in mood disorders, researchers used data from a 2001 to 2002 U.S. nationally representative survey of 22,581 working adults aged 30 to 65 years. Gender differences in individual-level productivity were accounted for using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methods. Models reduced the wage gap in the sample by 13.5%, from 54% of men’s pay to 67.5% of men’s pay. Researchers created a propensity-score matched sample of productivity indicators to determine if wage gap moderated the effects of gender on depression or anxiety.

When female income was less than the matched male equivalent, risk for both major depressive disorder (OR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.95-3.04) and anxiety (OR = 4.11; 95% CI, 2.8-6.02) were significantly higher among women.

The higher risks for major depressive disorder (OR = 1.2; 95% CI, 0.96-1.52) and anxiety (OR = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.04-2.29) among women were significantly attenuated when female income was greater than the matched male equivalent.

Effect modification by sex and wage gap direction was statistically significant for both disorders, according to researchers.

“Our findings suggest that policies must go beyond prohibiting overt gender discrimination like sexual harassment,” study researcher Katherine Keyes, PhD, of Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, said in the release. “Further, while it is commonly believed that gender differences in depression and anxiety are biologically rooted, these results suggest that such differences are much more socially constructed than previously thought, indicating that gender disparities in psychiatric disorders are malleable and arise from unfair treatment.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.