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Disease prevention behaviour is essential during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. How people respond to information and regulations to control this infectious disease can be influenced by their age and generational identity. An individual with an optimal level of psychological flexibility can adapt to challenging situations more efficiently. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the moderating effect of generation on the relationship between psychological flexibility and COVID-19 preventive behaviour among different generational cohorts of women (baby boomers, X, Y, and Z). This relationship was rarely addressed in the literature, which is what inspired this study. Data were collected through an online survey. The responses of 834 Hungarian speaking women between the ages of 18 and 75 years old were successfully gathered. Four generational cohorts were represented in the sample population: baby boomers (age > 56), X (age 41-55), Y (age 24-40), and Z (age 18-25). The moderation effect was calculated using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. A statistically significant moderation effect of generation was found on the relationship between psychological flexibility and COVID-19 prevention behaviour and the interaction added a small but significant contribution to the final model predicting preventive behaviour. In Generation Z, psychological flexibility predicted an increase in preventive behaviour, but no significant prediction was found among other generational cohorts. Females in their twenties seemed to be more engaged in COVID-19 prevention behaviour, if their psychological flexibility was higher, but failed to comply with health recommendations and safety protocols at low levels of flexibility. This study may provide a new perspective on how generational cohorts can influence the effect of psychological factors on COVID-19 preventive behaviour. Prevention of avoidance behaviours and facilitation of acceptance is definitory for psychologically flexible behaviours, while disease avoidance is crucial in prevention behaviour of COVID-19. Further research is needed to clarify our findings. Keywords: Pandemic, Mental health, Adaptation to change, Generational identity, Moderation analysis, April 2021 Introduction Since the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 a pandemic (WHO, 11th of March, 2020), multiple health guidelines were imposed by governments. Still ongoing, some countries [...]

Background: Major depressive disorder is a chronic illness with a higher incidence in women. Dysregulated neural oscillatory activity is an emerging mechanism thought to underlie major depressive disorder, but whether sex differences in these rhythms contribute to the development of symptoms is unknown. Methods: We exposed male and female rats to chronic unpredictable stress and characterized them as stress-resilient or stress-susceptible based on behavioural output in the forced swim test and the sucrose preference test. To identify sex-specific neural oscillatory patterns associated with stress response, we recorded local field potentials from the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens and dorsal hippocampus throughout stress exposure. Results: At baseline, female stressresilient rats innately exhibited higher theta coherence in hippocampal connections compared with stress-susceptible female rats. Following stress exposure, additional oscillatory changes manifested: stress- resilient females were characterized by increased dorsal hippocampal theta power and cortical gamma power, and stress-resilient males were characterized by a widespread increase in high gamma coherence. In stress-susceptible animals, we observed a pattern of increased delta and reduced theta power; the changes were restricted to the cingulate cortex and dorsal hippocampus in males but occurred globally in females. Finally, stress exposure was accompanied by the time-dependent recruitment of specific neural pathways, which culminated in system-wide changes that temporally coincided with the onset of depression-like behaviour. Limitations: We could not establish causality between the electrophysiological changes and behaviours with the methodology we employed. Conclusion: Sex- specific neurophysiological patterns can function as early markers for stress vulnerability and the onset of depression-like behaviours in rats., Introduction About 10% of the world population has major depressive disorder (MDD), and prevalence is 2 times greater in women than in men. (1,2) Chronic stress is an established risk [...]

Heavy Episodic Drinking (HED) is becoming a common drinking pattern among young adults in South Europe. Additionally, alcohol consumption has increased among young women, narrowing the gender gap in alcohol use. In the scope of the European action-research project ALLCOOL', this study explores sex-related differences on HED among young adults [18-29] living in Southern European cities of Porto, Tarragona and Bologna. A total of 1141 participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that measured drinking patterns, protective behavioural strategies and alcohol-related negative consequences. Data analysis revealed significative sex-related differences: men present higher levels of HED and suffer more negative consequences; while women use more protective behavioural strategies. These differences can be explained in terms of gender roles that invite men to excess and women to self-control. These results might inform gender-sensitive community interventions and policies addressing HED.Keywords: Heavy Episodic drinking, alcohol drinking, sex-related differences, protective behavioral strategies, alcohol-related consequences, Southern Europe, INTRODUCTIONAlcohol consumption per capita in Europe has been decreasing in the last 20 years (WHO, 2014), however, there are some drinking patterns emerging. Firstly, alcohol consumption among young people is [...]

This study explores whether instruments used to measure Job Control and Psychological Job Demands function differently by sex. We evaluated the comparability of these measures by sex using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. All estimates were invariant by sex, except for the intercept for the item assessing how 'hectic' a worker perceives his/her job (which contributes to the Demands measure). This item intercept was statistically significantly higher for women than men, but not practically so. These findings suggest that the differences observed between men and women in the impact of work stress on health cannot be explained by measurement bias (when using the work stress measures employed in this study). Further research is needed to understand why work stress appears to affect the health of men and women differently. Keywords: Psychosocial Work Stress; Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Sex; Measurement; Psychological Demands; Job Control, Introduction The impact of the psychosocial work environment on health has been the subject of scientific investigations for several decades (Eller et al., 2009; Gilbert-Ouimet, Trudel, Brisson, Milot, & Vezina, [...]

Background/Objectives: We previously found that the OPUS School Meal Study improved reading and increased errors related to inattention and impulsivity. This study explored whether the cognitive effects differed according to gender, household education and reading proficiency at baseline. Subjects/Methods: This is a cluster-randomised cross-over trial comparing Nordic school meals with packed lunch from home (control) for 3 months each among 834 children aged 8 to 11 years. At baseline and at the end of each dietary period, we assessed children's performance in reading, mathematics and the d2-test of attention. Interactions were evaluated using mixed models. Analyses included 739 children. Results: At baseline, boys and children from households without academic education were poorer readers and had a higher d2-error%. Effects on dietary intake were similar in subgroups. However, the effect of the intervention on test outcomes was stronger in boys, in children from households with academic education and in children with normal/good baseline reading proficiency. Overall, this resulted in increased socioeconomic inequality in reading performance and reduced inequality in impulsivity. Contrary to this, the gender difference decreased in reading and increased in impulsivity. Finally, the gap between poor and normal/good readers was increased in reading and decreased for d2-error%. Conclusions: The effects of healthy school meals on reading, impulsivity and inattention were modified by gender, household education and baseline reading proficiency. The differential effects might be related to environmental aspects of the intervention and deserves to be investigated further in future school meal trials., Author(s): L B Sørensen [sup.1] , C T Damsgaard [sup.1] , R A Petersen [sup.1] , S-M Dalskov [sup.1] , M F Hjorth [sup.1] , C B Dyssegaard [sup.2] , [...]

Background: Anxiety disorders are more prevalent in women than in men. Despite this sexual dimorphism, most experimental studies are conducted in male participants, and studies focusing on sex differences are sparse. In addition, the role of hormonal contraceptives and menstrual cycle phase in fear conditioning and extinction processes remain largely unknown. Methods: We investigated sex differences in context-dependent fear acquisition and extinction (day 1) and their retrieval/expression (day 2). Skin conductance responses (SCRs), fear and unconditioned stimulus expectancy ratings were obtained. Results: We included 377 individuals (261 women) in our study. Robust sex differences were observed in all dependent measures. Women generally displayed higher subjective ratings but smaller SCRs than men and showed reduced excitatory/inhibitory conditioned stimulus (CS+/CS-) discrimination in all dependent measures. Furthermore, women using hormonal contraceptives showed reduced SCR CS discrimination on day 2 than men and free-cycling women, while menstrual cycle phase had no effect. Limitations: Possible limitations include the simultaneous testing of up to 4 participants in cubicles, which might have introduced a social component, and not assessing postexperimental contingency awareness. Conclusion: The response pattern in women shows striking similarity to previously reported sex differences in patients with anxiety. Our results suggest that pronounced deficits in associative discrimination learning and subjective expression of safety information (CS- responses) might underlie higher prevalence and higher symptom rates seen in women with anxiety disorders. The data call for consideration of biological sex and hormonal contraceptive use in future studies and may suggest that targeting inhibitory learning during therapy might aid precision medicine., Introduction Anxiety and stress-related disorders are highly prevalent in the general population and are frequently studied in the laboratory by means of fear conditioning and extinction tasks, which serve as [...]

To date, the pathogenesis of schizophrenia remains poorly understood. However, neurodevelopmental theories have been used to explain this complex disorder, as converging lines of evidence suggest abnormal trajectory of brain [...]

Objectives: There is a well-established association between gender and the prevalence of mental illness. The objective of this study was to determine whether gender also influences the timing of remission from illness. The regression analysis undertaken considered remission in terms of all ICD-9 mental disorders (codes 290-314). This analysis compares males and females on average length of treatment for mental illness and examines whether any gender differences in remission are generalized or disorder specific. Methods: The statistical analysis was based on longitudinal (1990-2001) administrative data on 5,118 females and 2,470 males. The target population represented all individuals with an ICD-9 diagnosis of mental illness who were treated through the Medical Services Plan in British Columbia. The regression analysis used the generalized estimating equations method to model differences in length of treatment. Results: There was a non-significant bivariate relation between gender and the timing of remission from mental illness. However, the multivariate findings demonstrated that a significant gender effect on remission emerges after controls were introduced for demographic and socio-economic characteristics. In particular, the timing of remission was somewhat longer for females. This effect was generalized and not restricted to specific illnesses. Conclusions: The emergence of a significant effect after considering demographic and socio-economic characteristics suggests that a social disadvantage within the male sample (more single males) was suppressing a small negative effect of female gender on the timing of remission. In other words, a social disadvantage among males concealed an unexplained female disadvantage in remission. Key words: Gender; remission; mental health La traduction du resume se trouve a la fin de l'article. Objectifs : Il existe un lien confirme entre le sexe et la prevalence des maladies mentales. Nous avons cherche a determiner si le sexe influencait aussi le moment des remissions de ce genre de maladies. Au moyen d'une analyse de regression, nous avons etudie les remissions de tous les troubles mentaux enumeres dans la CIM-9 (codes 290 a 314). L'analyse comparait la duree moyenne des traitements pour maladie mentale chez les hommes et les femmes afin de deceler d'eventuels ecarts entre les sexes dans les remissions et de determiner si ces ecarts etaient generalises ou propres a certains troubles. Methode : Notre analyse statistique etait fondee sur les donnees administratives longitudinales (1990-2001) de 5 118 femmes et de 2 470 hommes. La population cible englobait toutes les personnes presentant un diagnostic de maladie mentale selon la CIM-9 qui avaient ete traitees par le regime de sante de la Colombie-Britannique. Dans l'analyse de regression, nous avons utilise la methode des equations d'estimation generalisees pour modeliser les ecarts dans la duree des traitements. Resultats : Nous observons une relation bivariee non significative entre le sexe et le moment des remissions des maladies mentales. Cependant, les resultats de l'analyse multivariee montrent l'emergence d'un effet sexospecifique significatif apres l'introduction de variables de controle demographiques et socioeconomiques. En particulier, les remissions sont un peu plus tardives chez les femmes. Cet effet est generalise : il ne se limite pas a certaines maladies. Conclusion : L'emergence d'un effet significatif lorsqu'on tient compte de variables demographiques et socioeconomiques donne a penser que l'existence d'un desavantage social dans l'echantillon masculin (compose de plus de celibataires) a annule un leger effet nefaste dans le moment des remissions chez les femmes. Autrement dit, un desavantage social chez les hommes masquait un desavantage inexplique sur le plan des remissions chez les femmes. Mots cles : sexospecificite; remission; sante mentale, Gender differences in the prevalence of mental illness are well documented, (1-6) but whether gender also influences the timing of remission is unclear. Do the factors that contribute to a [...]

Byline: Ravi. Gupta, Deepak. Goel, Sohaib. Ahmed, Minakshi. Dhar, Vivekananda. Lahan Objectives: This study was carried out to assess different counteracting strategies used by patients with idiopathic Willis-Ekbom disease (RLS/WED). [...]