Survey Reveals Gender Gap in COVID-19 Stress

Women are experiencing greater stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic than men, a trend that appears to be worsening, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey.

The survey was conducted via telephone from March 25 to 30 with 1,226 adults aged 18 and older. Women surveyed were more likely than men to say that they’ve stayed home instead of going to work or doing other activities; changed or canceled travel plans; or sheltered in place. Forty-nine percent of women said their lives had been disrupted “a lot” by the outbreak, compared with 40% of men.

Most strikingly, 53% of women said worry or stress related to the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health, compared with 37% of men. This difference was even larger between parents, with 57% of mothers reporting worsening mental health compared with 32% of fathers.

KFF first noted the divergence between men’s and women’s responses in a poll conducted March 11 to 15. The gap between men and women’s worsening mental health grew in just the two weeks between the surveys.

Maureen Sayres Van Niel, M.D., who is the APA Assembly’s representative to the Caucus of Women Psychiatrists and chair of the Assembly Committee of Representatives of Minority/Underrepresented Groups, said that, while the survey’s sample size is small, it points to important trends that she is also seeing in her clinical practice.

“Women of all economic classes reported that they’re at a tipping point,” Van Niel said. “They’re trying to be the teacher, the cook, run the household, do a full-time job, and be the chief comforter to worried family members, all during a time when the usual help and personal time they might have, such as going out to exercise or visit friends, is no longer available.”

Van Niel noted that differences between men and women in terms of their mental health existed before the COVID-19 pandemic began and may impact the survey’s results. Women are more likely than men to report their mental health symptoms to clinicians, and the incidence of anxiety and depressive disorders in women is twice that of men.

There is also a greater burden on women in the home, which may be exacerbating their stress because of stay-at-home orders. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that, even if women have full-time jobs, they continue to carry twice the load that men do in the care of children and elderly relatives and have two-thirds more of the responsibility for household chores than men, Van Niel pointed out.

Furthermore, 23% of households are headed by single mothers, many of whom live in poverty. “Studies of the mental health of those living with food, shelter, and financial insecurity reveal a high level of mental health symptoms, and the quarantine amplifies this, leading to an overwhelming strain for some,” she said.

About a fourth of all women will experience intimate partner violence during their lifetimes, as well. “If women happen to be home now with someone who is abusive, their stress level will be immeasurably higher,” Van Niel said.

Psychiatrists should proactively ask their women patients about the balance of family burdens in their lives, if they have enough food and shelter, and if abuse is taking place, she said. Given how significant these stressors can be on a woman, it’s important to include such questions.

Considering that men are less likely to share their mental health symptoms, psychiatrists should also take care to elicit that information from men as well, she said.

“It’s incumbent upon us to continue research to determine why women have twice the rate of depression and anxiety disorders than men,” she said. “How much of a role do correctable stressors falling disproportionately on women contribute to that?” ■