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Gender Congruence Moderates Beliefs About the Causes of Alcohol Dependence and Major Depression

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Abstract

Lay beliefs about the causes of common mental health conditions may perpetuate stigmatizing attitudes toward individuals with mental illness. Furthermore, some of these beliefs may be subject to intergroup membership bias based on gender congruence, as depression is more prevalent in women and alcohol dependence is more prevalent in men. Respondents listened to a vignette portraying an individual with depression or alcohol dependence and were asked how likely the vignette character’s (X’s) symptoms were due to the following causes: X’s bad character, genetics, stress, the way X was raised, and the normal ups and downs of life. Respondents endorsed bad character as a more likely cause of alcohol dependence compared to depression, but this was stronger for women respondents. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to endorse bad character as a cause of depression compared to women. A trend suggested that the overall tendency for alcohol to be attributed to genetics more than depression was stronger for men, whereas women endorsed genetics as a more likely cause of depression than men. Finally, men were significantly more likely to attribute characters’ symptoms to the normal ups and downs of life compared to women. Overall, these patterns suggest gender differences in attitudes about the underlying causes of alcohol dependence and depression that may be consistent with intergroup membership bias. Anti-stigma interventions aimed at reducing bias toward individuals with these common, gender-typical disorders should consider adapting strategies to target intergroup membership bias.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Preventative Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Rachel Lale, Jennalee Wooldridge & Andrew Sarkin

  2. Department of Psychology, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA

    Rachel Lale

  3. San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA

    Marisa Sklar

  4. Health Services Research Center, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0994, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Rachel Lale

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  1. Rachel Lale
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  2. Marisa Sklar
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  3. Jennalee Wooldridge
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  4. Andrew Sarkin
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Correspondence to Rachel Lale.

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Lale, R., Sklar, M., Wooldridge, J. et al. Gender Congruence Moderates Beliefs About the Causes of Alcohol Dependence and Major Depression. Int J Ment Health Addiction 12, 395–405 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-013-9465-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-013-9465-y

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