Sex Difference

Sex differences in rates of depression and of battering by intimate partners are substantial: 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. The relationship between battering and depression has been documented for more than two decades, but has rarely been noted in the depression literature. This paper presents a brief summary of the major etiological theories of depression with a discussion of the evidence that links these theories with research on battered women. It seems clear that battering can be an important component of depression in battered women. Understanding the mechanisms involved in the relationship between depression and battering can result in a better approach to the diagnosis and treatment of depression in battered women. This discussion has particular ramifications for the primary health care system as well as the mental health care system.

Previously, we demonstrated that adult blood pressure was increased in offspring of rabbit mothers with chronic secondary renal hypertension. Our study identified sex-specific differences in the programming of hypertension, with female, not male, offspring, having increased blood pressure at 30 wk of age. The aim of this study was to characterize the maternal hypertension during pregnancy to determine potential programming stimuli. Further, we examined the impact of chronic maternal hypertension on offspring birth weight, nephron number, and renal noradrenaline content (as an index of renal innervation density). Three groups of mothers and their offspring were studied: two-kidney, one-wrap (2K-1W, n = 9 mothers) hypertensive, two-kidney, two-wrap (2K-2W, n = 8) hypertensive, and a sham-operated group ( n = 9). Mean arterial blood pressure was increased by ∼20 mmHg throughout pregnancy in both hypertensive groups compared with sham mothers (PG < 0.001). Plasma renin activity (PRA;...

Sex differences in rates of depression and of battering by intimate partners are substantial: 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. The relationship between battering and depression has been documented for more than two decades, but has rarely been noted in the depression literature. This paper presents a brief summary of the major etiological theories of depression with a discussion of the evidence that links these theories with research on battered women. It seems clear that battering can be an important component of depression in battered women. Understanding the mechanisms involved in the relationship between depression and battering can result in a better approach to the diagnosis and treatment of depression in battered women. This discussion has particular ramifications for the primary health care system as well as the mental health care system.