The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Mental Health 509

the total number of stressful events reported,

but females reported greater interpersonal

stress and males reported greater noninter-

personal stress—only among the older age

group (Rudolph & Hammen, 1999). As shown

in the left half of Figure 13.8, adolescent girls

reported higher levels of interpersonal stress

than preadolescent girls, preadolescent boys,

or adolescent boys. As shown in the right half

of Figure 13.8, adolescent boys experienced

greater noninterpersonal stress than the other

three groups. Other studies have shown that

adolescent females report more relationship

stressors, and adolescent males report more

personal stressors (Murberg & Bru, 2004; Shih

et al., 2006).

Thus it appears that the link of gen-

der to trauma and stress has more to do with

women and men experiencing different kinds

One reason the overall sex difference in

exposure to stress is small may be that women

and men experience stressors in different do-

mains, just as they experience trauma in dif-

ferent domains. The meta-analysis examined

whether sex differences appeared for different

kinds of stressors. The sex difference for inter-

personal stressors was larger than the sex dif-

ference for noninterpersonal stressors (d=+.17

vs.d=+.07). There was no category of stressor

on which men scored higher than women.

A great deal of research on adolescents

supports the meta-analysis finding that fe-

males report greater interpersonal stress

than males. Females are exposed to more so-

cial stressors during adolescence than males

(Rudolph, 2009). In a study of preadolescent

(ages 8 to 12) and adolescent (ages 13 to 18)

boys and girls, there was no sex difference in

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

Preadolescent Adolescent^0 Preadolescent Adolescent

Male

Female

Male

Female

Interpersonal Stress Non-interpersonal Stress

FIGURE 13.8 Sex comparisons of interpersonal and noninterpersonal

stress among preadolescents and adolescents. Adolescent females reported

higher levels of interpersonal stress compared to adolescent males and either

group of preadolescents. Adolescent males reported higher noninterpersonal

stress compared to adolescent females and either group of preadolescents.

Source: Adapted from Rudolph and Hammen (1999).

M13_HELG0185_04_SE_C13.indd 509 6/21/11 12:55 PM