A community study on gender differences in mental health indicators and mediating effects of stalking victimization

Abstract

Background and Aims

Studies on the impact of stalking on victims suggest that stalking may have serious psychosocial consequences. Using data from the Mannheim stalking study (Dressing, Kuehner & Gass, 2005) the present report analyses gender differences with regard to various mental health indicators and potential mediator effects of stalking victimization. Furthermore, we were interested in whether the impact of stalking on mental health was comparable for men and women.

Methods

The study included a postal survey of 675 community residents on the experience of intruding harassment and on mental health indicators.

Results

In the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D) women scored higher on most of the subscales. Furthermore, more women fulfilled criteria for at least one threshold or sub-threshold mental disorder syndrome according to DSM-IV, and more women than men used psychotropic medication. However, identified associations were completely mediated by the higher prevalence of stalking victims in women. In contrast, the associations of stalking victimization with poor mental health, psychosocial functioning, and use of medication were largely comparable across gender.

Conclusions

Our study indicates clear associations between stalking victimization and impaired mental health, quantified at diagnostic levels in the general population. Furthermore, the experience of being a stalking victim seems to act as a substantial mediator of the associations between gender and mental health outcomes in the community.