Abstract
Mental ill-health is a leading cause of disease burden worldwide. While women suffer from greater levels of mental health disorders, it remains unclear whether this gender gap differs systematically across regions and/or countries, or across the different dimensions of mental health. We analysed 2018 data from 566,829 adolescents across 73 countries for 4 mental health outcomes: psychological distress, life satisfaction, eudaemonia, and hedonia. We examine average gender differences and distributions for each of these outcomes as well as country-level associations between each outcome and purported determinants at the country level: wealth (GDP per capita), inequality (Gini index), and societal indicators of gender inequality (GII, GGGI, and GSNI). We report four main results: 1) The gender gap in mental health in adolescence is largely ubiquitous cross-culturally, with girls having worse average mental health; 2) There is considerable cross-national heterogeneity in the size of the gender gap, with the direction reversed in a minority of countries; 3) Higher GDP per capita is associated with worse average mental health and a larger gender gap across all mental health outcomes; and 4) more gender equal countries have larger gender gaps across all mental health outcomes. Taken together, our findings suggest that while the gender gap appears largely ubiquitous, its size differs considerably by region, country, and dimension of mental health. Findings point to the hitherto unrealised complex nature of gender disparities in mental health and possible incongruence between expectations and reality in high gender equal countries.
Highlights
Mental ill-health is a leading cause of disease burden globally (Rehm & Shield, 2019; Walker et al., 2015), and in most individuals is first experienced in childhood (Kessler et al, 2005), leading to a growing policy interest in improving adolescent mental health (Das et al, 2016)
We report four main results: 1) The gender gap in mental health in adolescence is largely ubiquitous cross-culturally, with girls having worse average mental health; 2) There is considerable cross-national heterogeneity in the size of the gender gap, with the direction reversed in a minority of countries; 3) Higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is associated with worse average mental health and a larger gender gap across all mental health outcomes; and 4) more gender equal countries have larger gender gaps across all mental health outcomes
Where over 50% agree with the statement ‘men have more of a right to work than a woman’, the mental health gender gap is larger with greater gender equality, but where less than 50% agree, the gap is smaller in countries with greater gender equality
Summary
Mental ill-health is a leading cause of disease burden globally (Rehm & Shield, 2019; Walker et al., 2015), and in most individuals is first experienced in childhood (Kessler et al, 2005), leading to a growing policy interest in improving adolescent mental health (Das et al, 2016). Adolescence is a formative time of changing identity (Blakemore & Mills, 2014) and is commonly when emotional disorders and the gender gap in mental health emerges (Wade et al, 2002; WHO, 2020). It is a period of rapid change and exposure to new risk factors including physical changes, peer pressure, educational stress, and sexual exploration (Viner et al, 2015; WHO, 2020). It is a time when gender becomes a more salient socialising factor and individuals develop concepts of what it means to be a man or a woman (Greene & Patton, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
