Relationships study found big gender differences

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (Health y News) -- Love may banish the blues
for women more easily than for men, according to a new study.

Supportive, loving relationships offer women protection against
major depression but don't seem to play a role in male depression,
say researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. In their study
of 1,000 pairs of adult, opposite-sex, fraternal twins, the Virginia
team found that the female twins were more apt to fall into depression
if they felt they received low levels of emotional support from spouses,
parents and other relatives, compared to their brothers.

'In women, social support was a robust predictor of risk for depression,'
study lead author Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler, a professor of psychiatry and
human genetics, said in a prepared statement. 'Women who saw themselves
as more loved and cared for and objectively well integrated in positive
social groups were well protected against later episodes of major
depression,' he added.

'However, among the men we found virtually no effect. In this large
sample, we could find no relationship in men between their levels of
social support and their risk for depression. These findings suggest
that men may be more 'immune' or less sensitive to aspects of their
social environment with respect to their risk for depression,'
Kendler said.

The study appears in the February issue of the American Journal of
Psychiatry. The findings suggest there are important differences
between women and men in the factors leading to depression. According
to Kendler, research suggests women tend to look for contentment in
inter-personal relationships, whereas men are less likely to do so.

That doesn't mean men are always happy on their own, however. 'While
the impact of low social support on risk for major depression appears
to be less pronounced in men than in women, males may be more sensitive
to the adverse health effects of social isolation than are females,'
Kendler said.