Gender Differences In Response Research Articles

Exposure to Countering Messages Online: Alleviating or Strengthening False Belief?

Posting countermessages is commonly used as a strategy to combat false rumors spreading online. The effectiveness of countermessage exposure has been investigated in past studies, but little is known about its repercussions. The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of rumor control by investigating the factors impacting the effectiveness of countermessage exposure. A total of 164 participants were asked to judge the believability of rumor and factual tweets before and after countermessage exposure in a web-based experiment. Two forms of countermessage were compared to examine the effects of countermessages on belief change in the target tweets. One was subjective countermessages based on personal experiences, and the other was objective countermessages based on evidence. The results showed that objective countermessages reduced belief in rumor tweets, whereas subjective countermessages strengthened false beliefs. In addition, the half of the participants who were exposed to objective countermessages randomly mixed with subjective countermessages formed negative attitudes not only toward the rumor tweets but also toward the factual tweets. The results also showed gender differences in response to countermessage exposure; women tended to be more susceptible to countermessages and changed their beliefs regarding the target tweets negatively after the exposure. We discuss the practical implications of the results associated with the adverse effects of countermessage exposure.

A Comparison of Group Anger Management Treatments for Combat Veterans With PTSD: Results From a Quasi-Experimental Trial.

Difficulty controlling anger is a significant concern among combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet few controlled studies have examined the efficacy of anger treatments for this population. This study examined the effects of a group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention compared with a group present-centered therapy (PCT) control condition in male and female combat veterans with PTSD. Thirty-six combat veterans with PTSD and anger difficulties began group treatment (CBT, n = 19; PCT, n = 17). Separate multilevel models of self-rated anger, PTSD symptoms, and disability were conducted using data from baseline, each of 12 treatment sessions, posttreatment, and 3- and 6-month follow-up time points. Significant decreases in anger and PTSD symptoms were observed over time, but no significant differences between CBT and PCT were observed on these outcomes. A significant interaction of therapy by time favoring the PCT condition was observed on disability scores. Gender differences were observed in dropout rates (i.e., 100% of female participants dropped out of CBT). Findings suggest that both CBT and PCT group therapy may be effective in reducing anger in combat veterans with PTSD. Results also highlight potential gender differences in response to group anger treatment.

Psychiatry as a specialization: influential factors and gender differences among medical students in a low- to middle-income country.

To assess the perception of Ghanaian medical students about factors influencing their career interest in psychiatry and to explore gender differences in these perceptions. This is a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 5th and 6th year medical students in four public medical schools in Ghana. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 20. Responses were obtained from 545 medical students (response rate of 52%). Significantly, more male medical students expressed that stigma is an important consideration for them to choose or not to choose a career in psychiatry compared to their female counterparts (42.7% v. 29.7%, respectively). Over two-thirds of the medical students perceived that psychiatrists were at risk of being attacked by their patients, with just a little over a third expressing that risk was an important consideration for them to choose a career in psychiatry. There were no gender differences regarding perceptions about risk. Around 3 to 4 out of 10 medical students will consider careers in psychiatry if offered various incentives with no gender differences in responses provided. Our study presents important and novel findings in the Ghanaian context, which can assist health policy planners and medical training institutions in Ghana to formulate policies and programs that will increase the number of psychiatry residents and thereby increase the psychiatrist-to-patient ratio in Ghana.

Footwear Alters Lower Extremity Coordination Variability

Footwear has been shown to have a significant effect on numerous kinematic and kinetic variables during walking and running. While footwear mass is an indisputably important influence on gait patterns, we suspected that the amount of outsole material on most footwear would likely diminish or delay the integration of tactile feedback in motor control strategies during gait. Thus, we designed this study to investigate the influence of footwear and augmented tactile feedback on lower extremity coordination patterns during walking. A secondary purpose of the study was to examine gender differences in response to altered footwear conditions. Forty-eight participants (24 male and 24 females) walked during four standardized footwear conditions (barefoot, shod, barefoot with augmented tactile feedback, and shod with augmented tactile feedback), and we collected three-dimensional kinematic data and calculated continuous relative phase values for two adjacent lower extremity joints to determine interjoint coordination patterns. We used deviation phase and the mean of the continuous relative phase to compare motor coordination patterns across conditions. We found significant footwear and gender effects for spatiotemporal variables but only significant footwear effects for motor coordination patterns. Females displayed a significantly higher cadence and shorter height-normalized stride length as compared to males. Participants displayed significantly greater thigh-shank coordination variability in the shod, as compared to the unshod, conditions. Thus, footwear results in a diminished or delayed tactile feedback that alters neuromuscular control strategies during walking.

Gender differences in response to infidelity types and rival attractiveness

Some evolutionary psychologists hypothesize that women are more upset by their partners’ emotional infidelity than men, and men are more upset by sexual infidelity than women. In addition, other evolutionary psychologists hypothesize that women are more distressed than men when their partners are unfaithful with a very attractive rival (lover). However, according to the imagination hypothesis, these sexual differences can be explained by gender differences in the “imagination of infidelity.” Based on this context, we hypothesized that gender differences would not be observed when controlling for the effects of infidelity imagination. Participants consisted of 288 college students who were in serious committed relationships. Photographs of attractive and unattractive rival were presented, and participants rated how upset they would be by their partner’s infidelity with the rival. A 2 (gender) × 2 (infidelity type) × 2 (rival attractiveness) factorial design was employed. Analysis of variance for the group who had lower levels of infidelity imagination revealed a significant interaction between gender and infidelity type. However, analyses of covariance with vividness of the partner’s infidelity as a covariate revealed that there were no differences between the genders. Therefore, the imagination hypothesis was supported while the evolutionary explanation for gender differences was not.

Motivating Low-Achievers—Relative Performance Feedback in Primary Schools

Relative performance feedback (RPF) has often been shown to improve effort and performance in the workplace and educational settings. Yet, many studies also document substantial negative effects of RPF, in particular for low-achievers. We study a novel type of RPF designed to overcome these negative effects of RPF on low-achievers by scoring individual performance improvements. With a sample of 400 children, we conduct a class-wise randomized-controlled trial using an e-learning software in regular teaching lessons in primary schools. We demonstrate that this type of RPF significantly increases motivation, effort, and performance in math for low-achieving children, without hurting high-achieving children. Among low-achievers, those receiving more points and moving up in the ranking improved strongest on motivation and math performance. In an exploratory analysis, we document substantial gender differences in response to this type of RPF: improvements in motivation and learning are much stronger for girls. We argue that using this new type of RPF could potentially reduce inequalities, especially in educational settings.

Emotional eating in relation to anthropometric indices and dietary energy intake based on gender

BACKGROUND: Emotional eating is one of the important factors in etiology of obesity and eating disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare gender differences in response to emotional eating and to identify the anthropometric indices and dietary

Gender differences in self-esteem, unvarnished self-evaluation, future orientation, self-enhancement and self-derogation in a U.S. national sample

American men tend to score slightly higher on measures of self-esteem than American women. We ask whether this is because of gender differences in responsiveness to the positive and negative phrasing of self-related survey statements used to assess self-esteem. We argue that self-enhancing and self-derogatory tendencies can be inferred from wording valence effects that are common to both self-esteem and optimism. Including latent factors for those response tendencies in a bifactor measurement model transforms the latent factors for self-esteem and optimism into “unvarnished” forms of self-evaluation and future orientation. The bifactor model is shown to fit data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) better than a conventional measurement model. Although we observe a gender difference in self-esteem, as identified in the conventional model, no gender difference is observed in unvarnished self-evaluation identified in the bifactor model. Our results are consistent with the idea that self-esteem differs by gender due to a greater tendency for men to agree with positively worded self-statements, and a greater tendency for women to agree with negatively worded self-statements. We argue that those tendencies can be interpreted respectively as reflecting unconscious dispositions to self-enhance and self-derogate.

The Campus Awareness of Nursing Mothers’ Right to Breastfeed and Pump Breast Milk (P11-039-19)

ObjectivesWith the rising number of parent students on university campuses, it is important to create a baby-friendly climate and provide effective support for nursing mothers. Few studies examine the awareness of student mothers’ rights and campus support for breastfeeding and pumping. This study aimed to assess the scope of awareness and intention to support breastfeeding on campus among university employees and students. MethodsIn Fall 2018, all employees and students at one university in Northern New Jersey were invited to participate in an online survey that measured attitude toward and intention to support public nursing, and awareness of nursing mothers’ right to breastfeed and pump on campus. Pearson’s r and ANOVA were used to examine attitude, awareness level, and intention relationships and the differences between genders. ResultsA total of 646 individuals (540 female, 102 male, 4 other) participated in this study. Participants consisted of 84.2% students, 15.8% employees, 20.5% parents (students comprising 44.3% of those), 23.5% Hispanic, and 68.3% having seen breastfeeding in public. Intention to support was significantly correlated with attitude toward public nursing (r = 0.238, P < 0.001). A majority of participants (58.7%) were unaware of existing lactation rooms on campus. Participants expressed the lowest comfort level (1.98, 1-extremely uncomfortable, 4-extremely comfortable) seeing “nursing in public,” with no gender differences in responses, F (1, 570) = 0.213, P = 0.644. Females’ sum awareness of support and nursing mothers’ right was significantly higher (8.44 vs. 6.97, P = 0.018) than male, but similar to other gender. A large proportion of participants were not informed of “[nursing mothers’] rights to breastfeed or pump on campus (58.5%),” that students are “allowed to be excused from class to pump [varying class hours] (54%),” and that “[professors] have to allow students to make up the work they missed while out for pumping (62.2%).” ConclusionsA campus-wide campaign is needed to inform employees and students of professors’ role and student mothers’ right to breastfeed and pump on campus, hence creating a dynamic and functional baby-friendly campus. Funding SourcesNone.

Smoking Cessation among Female and Male Veterans before and after a Randomized Trial of Proactive Outreach.

Introduction:Female veterans smoke cigarettes at high rates compared with both male veterans and nonveteran women. Proactive outreach (PRO) to smokers may reduce gender disparities in cessation care. The objectives of this study were to compare baseline experiences with VA smoking cessation care for men and women and to assess for gender differences in response to a PRO intervention.Methods:We conducted a post hoc subgroup analysis of a pragmatic, multisite randomized, controlled trial comparing PRO with usual care (UC). Baseline experiences included physician advice to quit, satisfaction with care, and past-year treatment use. At the 1-year follow-up, treatment use, quit attempts, and 6-month prolonged abstinence for women and men randomized to PRO versus UC were compared using logistic regression.Results:Baseline and follow-up surveys were returned by 138 women and 2,516 men. At baseline, women were less likely than men to report being very or somewhat satisfied with the process of obtaining smoking cessation medications in the VA (47% of women vs. 62% of men), but no less likely to report having used cessation medications from the VA in the past year (39% of women vs. 34% of men). After the intervention, phone counseling and combined therapy increased among both women and men in PRO as compared with UC. At the 1-year follow-up, men in PRO were significantly more likely to report prolonged abstinence than those in UC (odds ratio, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.28–2.14); results for women were in the same direction but not statistically significant (odds ratio, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.48–3.99).Conclusions:Satisfaction with cessation care in VA remains low. PRO to smokers was associated with an increased use of cessation therapies, and increased odds of achieving prolonged abstinence. A subgroup analysis by gender did not reveal significant differences in the treatment effect.

Esophageal Cancer: Should Gender Be Considered as an Influential Factor for Patient Safety in Drug Treatment?

Aim Analyze the gender difference of esophageal cancer patients in response to drug treatment. Methods All publications on clinical trials were collected from PubMed, Scopus, and PMC. Each publication was examined to determine whether the publication is a clinical trial and whether data on gender difference were reported. Results Selected from a total of 191 publications, data from 7 trials with a total of 2041 patients were evaluated for gender differences. These clinical trials involve different drugs and disease phenotype. A significant difference was obtained between male and female groups from Student's t-test. There is no conclusive result on age, ethnicity, tumor size, and drug influence. Conclusions Gender difference in response to treatment potentially most likely exists in esophageal cancer patients, regardless of age, race, and drugs.

Gender, Race, and Grant Reviews: Translating and Responding to Research Feedback.

Grant-writing and grant-getting are key to success in many academic disciplines, but research points to gender gaps in both, especially as careers progress. Using a sample of National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-Awardees-Principal Investigators of Mentored Career Development Awards-we examined gender and race effects in response to imagined negative grant reviews that emphasized either promise or inadequacy. Women translated both forms of feedback into worse NIH priority scores than did men and showed reduced motivation to reapply for funding following the review highlighting inadequacy. Translation of feedback mediated the effects of gender on motivation, changing one's research focus, and advice-seeking. Race effects were less consistent, and race did not moderate effects of gender. We suggest that gender bias in grant reviews (i.e., greater likelihood of highlighting inadequacy in reviews of women's grants), along with gender differences in responsiveness to feedback, may contribute to women's underrepresentation in academic medicine.

Gender differences in responses to thin, athletic, and hyper-muscular idealized bodies

Recent evidence suggests that the ideal female body has shifted from an ultra-thin image toward one that is both thin and toned, or muscular. Furthermore, the ideal male body may be more athletic, characterized by moderate muscularity combined with leanness, than bodybuilder-muscular. Thus, we experimentally examined women’s (n = 92) and men’s (n = 106) cognitive processing style in response to idealized body types, i.e., thin images, athletic images (thin and muscular), or hyper-muscular images (moderately thin and extremely muscular). Results revealed that women in the athletic condition were the most likely to generate negative social comparisons. Women in the thin condition were more likely to generate counter-arguments compared to women in the other two conditions. Men in the hyper-muscular condition were more likely to generate counter-arguments than men in the other two conditions. Further, among women in the thin condition, negative social comparisons were inversely related to body appreciation but positively related to internalization of appearance ideals. Findings confirm that the athletic ideal likely poses problems for women’s body image. Both women and men seemed to be able to “talk back” when exposed to their gendered body ideal.

Gender Differences in Response to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Among Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Veterans.

Most of our knowledge base regarding treatment response among veterans comes from predominantly male samples. Evidence suggests, however, that women and men use different coping strategies, which may impact how effective treatments are for people of different genders. The purpose of this investigation was to examine gender differences in response to acceptance and commitment therapy, an empirically supported transdiagnostic psychotherapy. Data were drawn from a multisite, randomized, controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy as compared with a psychotherapy control, namely, present-centered therapy (PCT), in veterans with emotional distress who served in Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, or New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND). Although the original trial did not find a difference between acceptance and commitment therapy and present-centered therapy, we were interested in examining whether gender differences may have been obscured in the original analyses. This secondary analysis included 117 participants for whom at least one post-baseline data point was available and examined the role of gender in treatment response. Gender differences were not observed on the primary outcome of general distress, but were observed in post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (p<.01). These preliminary results suggest the possibility of gender differences in psychotherapy response and should motivate additional study of gender-specific care.

Gender Differences in Response to PCSK9 Inhibitor Therapy

Gender Differences in Response to PCSK9 Inhibitor Therapy

Gender aspects of the pain syndrome

In recent years, the subject of sex differences in the pain experience attracts a growing interest. The epidemiological and clinical data indicate that women have increased risk of chronic pain, and according to some sources, even experience more intense pain. The hypothetical biological mechanisms underlying sex differences in pain perception consist in the modulating effects produced by sex hormones in relation to the neural substrate. This is confirmed by data on the distribution of gonadal hormones and their receptors in the areas of the peripheral and central nervous system that provide nociceptive transmission. The complexity of the estradiol and progesterone effects on pain sensitivity lies in the fact that, according to various data, both have pre-nociceptive and antinociceptive effects, and testosterone appears to be more characterized by antinociceptive properties. The lion’s share of researches demonstrates the effect of a clinical pain exacerbation during the menstrual cycle. There is irrefutable information about gender differences in responses to drug and non-drug pain treatment, although the results vary depending on a specific therapy and may depend on pain characteristics. Since the recommended dosage of a medication is often based on an “average” male weigh 70 kg, female patients may be facing the risk of increased therapeutic or adverse effects of a drug. The cause is in a higher average percentage of body fat, a lower mean body weight, which contributes to higher median drug concentrations compared with male patients. At present, the available evidence does not allow adapting the methods of pain syndrome treatment to a gender. However, such innovations are quite possible and desirable in the foreseeable future. Additional studies will be required to clarify the mechanisms that determine sex differences in pain responses in order to provide adequate pain relief, according to the patient’s needs.

OR12-5 Sex Differences in the Response of C57bl/6 Mice To Ketogenic Diets

Since the initial use of ketogenic diets (KD) as adjunctive treatment for epilepsy, these diets are being increasingly used to promote weight loss and to reduce the risk of metabolic sequelae of severe obesity. Typical KD are very low in carbohydrate and high in fat, promoting hepatic production of ketone bodies. Most animal studies tend to be performed in male mice, and few studies have evaluated gender differences in response to KD. To explore sex differences in response to KD, female and male wild-type mice on the C57BL/6J background were fed either a control diet (CD- 7% fat, 47% carb., 19% protein) or KD (75% fat, 3% carb., 8% protein), following weaning. Females on the CD manifested higher levels of circulating β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB) than males (2.86-fold, p<0.05). Circulating β-HB concentrations increased with KD in males and females (1.30-fold & 5.05-fold, p<10-4 & p<0.01 respectively) with higher concentrations in females. After 15 weeks of feeding, females on KD displayed an increase in body weight (1.07-fold KD vs. CD, p<0.05) while body weight declined in males (0.88-fold, p<0.05). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis revealed elevated lean mass in 18-week old females (1.07-fold, p<0.05), but a significant reduction in fat mass in males (0.49-fold, p<0.05) relative to sex-matched mice on CD. The female mice on KD developed impaired glucose tolerance with a 1.35-fold increase in glucose tolerance test area under the curve (GTT AUC) (p<0.001) relative to CD females. In contrast, fasting glucose levels were lower in males on KD (131.8 ± 12.5 mg/ dl vs. 169.2 ± 6.3 mg/dl, p<0.05). Despite no significant change in GTT AUC, the male mice on KD displayed elevated blood glucose concentrations 30 minutes after injection relative to males on CD (344.9 ± 18.7 mg/ dl vs. 272.0 ± 10.31 mg/dl, p<0.05). However, after 120 minutes, blood glucose levels returned to initial levels. To further investigate the role of estrogen in this sexual dimorphism, female mice were ovariectomized (OVX) and randomized to receive either a CD or KD after weaning. At 15 weeks old, OVX mice on KD displayed decreased body weight (0.84-fold, p<0.0001) and fat mass (0.65-fold, p<0.001) relative to CD-fed mice. Despite changes in body composition, OVX mice on KD still exhibited impaired glucose tolerance with a 1.4-fold increase in GTT AUC comparable to OVX mice on CD (p<0.05). In conclusion, significant sex differences exist in terms of body composition and metabolism in response to ketogenic diet, which may partially be attributed to estrogen.

Effects of patient suicide on psychiatrists: survey of experiences and support required

Aims and methodDeath of patients by suicide can have powerful effects on psychiatrists. We report the findings of a survey completed by 174 psychiatrists on the effects of patient suicide on their emotional well-being and clinical practice, and the support and resources they felt would be helpful.Results and clinical implicationsThe death of a patient by suicide usually had a major effect on respondents. Clinical practice was often negatively affected, and over a quarter of respondents considered a change of career path as a result. There were some gender differences in responses, with women reporting more sense of responsibility for the deaths and a greater effect on their clinical confidence. Desired support included a senior suicide lead clinician, support during formal post-suicide processes, opportunity for reflection on practice, information about resources to support families and help communicating with families and friends of the deceased.

Impact of High K Intake on Thiazide‐Sensitive Cation Excretion in Male and Female Wild‐type and AT1a Receptor Knockout Mice

Proximal tubule Na reabsorption is a critical determinant of both fluid flow and Na+ delivery to the distal nephron. Beyond that, perturbation of transport by the thiazide‐sensitive Na‐Cl co‐transporter (NCC), within the apical membrane of distal tubule, alters Na+ availability to the Ksecretory machinery of the connecting segment and collecting duct. Potassium intake blunts both proximal Na+ reabsorption via effects on the Na/H‐exchanger (NHE3) and also distal Na+ reabsorption via decreased NCC expression and function. Angiotensin II (Ang II) also impacts both proximal and distal nephron segments, mainly through the AT1a receptor, but its effect is to enhance Na+ reabsorption. Previously we reported that higher NCC expression and activity in female wild‐type (WT) mice, and these gender‐specific differences were absent in AT1aknockout (KO) mice. We have now studied the gender differences in response to high K (HK) intake in WT and AT1a KO mice. In the current work, renal clearance experiments were performed to examine NCC activity on mice fed with control (CK) and HK (5% KCl, 7 days) diets. Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ, 30mg/kg iv)‐induced changes in urine volume (UV), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), absolute (ENa, EK) and fractional (FENa, FEK) excretion were measured and compared between male and female WT and AT1a KO mice. HK induced changes in NCC and Na/H‐exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3) expressions were examined by Western blotting. In WT animals, under control diet, HCTZ‐induced cation excretion is greater in females, than in males (ENa+EK was 7.2±1.1 vs. 3.5±0.6 μEq/min/100gBW, P&lt;0.05). This reflects a larger increase in Na+ excretion, as there is little gender difference in HCTZ‐induced K+ excretion (EK/ENa+EK was 20±2 in female and 28±3% in male, P&gt;0.05). Under HK diet, the gender difference in HCTZ‐induced cation excretion is reduced (ENa+EK was 7.0±0.7 in female and 5.2±0.3 μEq/min/100gBW in male P&lt;0.05) accompanied by a larger increment in K+ excretion in males (EK/ENa+EK was 57±5 in male and 36±4% in female P&lt;0.05). With AT1a KO, male mice tend to resemble female mice, with respect to both HCTZ‐induced Na+ and K+ excretion. In turn, the female KO mice are similar to their WT controls. Both NCC and NHE3 transporter abundance were significantly reduced by HK in all groups of mice. In summary, compared with female mice, males appear to rely on greater proximal tubule Na+ reabsorption, showing reduced thiazide‐dependent Na+ excretion. Under control conditions, comparable HCTZ‐dependent K+ excretion by WT males and females – despite reduced Na+ excretion in males ‐ suggests greater sensitivity of K+ secretion to changes in Na+ delivery in the males. HK diet likely increases distal Na+ delivery in both genders, so that HCTZ‐dependent cation excretion is maintained despite reduced NCC abundance. In males, a larger fraction of Na+ escaping the DCT is exchanged for K+, leading to less Na+ excretion and greater K+ excretion than in females. In AT1a KO mice, gender differences in thiazide effect are largely erased, suggesting a role for Ang II in modulating these processes.Support or Funding InformationNIH/NIDDK, RO1 DK099284 and P01 DK 17433This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Gender differences in response to CRTD therapy in patients with valvular regurgitation

Gender differences in response to CRTD therapy in patients with valvular regurgitation