Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct 17;18(20):10918.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182010918.

Gender Self-Perception and Psychological Distress in Healthcare Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Beatriz Rodríguez-Roca  1 , Ana Belén Subirón-Valera  1 , Ángel Gasch-Gallén  1 , Estela Calatayud  1 , Isabel Gómez-Soria  1 , Yolanda Marcén-Román  1   2
Affiliations

Gender Self-Perception and Psychological Distress in Healthcare Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Beatriz Rodríguez-Roca et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze university Health Sciences students' self-perception regarding gender stereotypes, and to explore whether there was any association between gender stereotypes and clinical/socio-demographic variables.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 252 university students who completed a self-administrated online questionnaire (18.3% males, 81.7% females). We evaluated the self-perception of gender stereotypes as determined using the BSRI-12 questionnaire and explored the association of this measure with the impact of perceived stress measured using a modified scale (PSS-10-C) as well as anxiety and depression according to scores on the Goldberg scale (GADS).

Results: According to the students' self-perception of gender stereotypes, 24.9% self-perceived themselves as feminine, 20.1% as masculine, 24.9% as androgynous, and 30% as undifferentiated. The degree determines self-identification with gender stereotypes. Nursing and Occupational Therapy are studied mostly by women, 28.4% and 45%, respectively, while Physiotherapy is studied mainly by men (71.2%). Females indicated more anxiety (75.7%) and depression (81.7%) than males (52.9% and 67.3%, respectively). In contrast, males developed more stress (88.5%) than females (74.1%).

Conclusions: University degree, anxiety, depression, and stress determined self-identification with gender stereotypes. The results of this study indicate that gender roles influence the possibility of developing mental disorders and should be taken into account in future studies.

Keywords: COVID-19; gender self-perception; gender stereotypes; physical activity; university health students.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflict of interest associated with this research.

References

    1. Pan A., Liu L., Wang C., Guo H., Hao X., Wang Q., Huang J., He N., Yu H., Lin X., et al. Association of Public Health Interventions With the Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Wuhan, China. JAMA. 2020;323:1915–1923. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.6130. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. COVID-19 Situation Update Worldwide, as of Week 28, Updated 22 July 2021. [(accessed on 26 July 2021)]. Available online: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases.
    1. Xiang Y.-T., Yang Y., Li W., Zhang L., Zhang Q., Cheung T., Ng C. Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7:228–229. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30046-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Paananen R., Ristikari T., Merikukka M., Gissler M. Social determinants of mental health: A Finnish nationwide follow-up study on mental disorders. J. Epidemiol. Community Health. 2013;67:1025–1031. doi: 10.1136/jech-2013-202768. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Melcher J., Hays R., Torous J. Digital phenotyping for mental health of college students: A clinical review. Évid. Based Ment. Health. 2020;23:161–166. doi: 10.1136/ebmental-2020-300180. - DOI - PMC - PubMed