Gender or gender-specific medicine is an emerging clinical discipline that combines biomedical research with developmental psychosocial processes. It encompass es differences between males and females pertaining to both psychological and social aspects. In gender-specific studies, however, the risks for gender bias in measurement should be carefully evaluated, and several aspects are currently under reconsideration in biomedical research, including study samples, methodology, the sick role within the framework of social relations, and the inevitable stimuli imposed by societal changes. Most human science research relies on collection of self-reported data, which may be greatly affected by gender differences. We provide a couple of examples. The first regards the caregiver, typically a woman’s role. Women who fulfill the caregiving responsibilities often experience a high level of burden and psychological distress. Although there are several tools that measure strain related to care provision, none of them contributes to make caregiver burden a crucial political and societal issue of contemporary society. Newer tools and research avenues should be identified to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of caregiver burden. The second example regards depression. The statement that depression is female-specific seems quite unjustified on scientific grounds, and current detection scores or indices have been questioned. Available evidence shows that women are more likely than men to exhibit and report states of low mood, and they access services more frequently than men. Conventional social norms make men more likely than women to deny their symptoms of depression and to mask them with other behaviors, adopting a “wait-and-see”attitude. Many studies still support a genderneutral approach, which suffers from a varying degree of gender bias influencing the design and interpretation of results. There is much left unexplored in gender-specific medical research.
La medicina “di genere” o genere-specifica non rappresenta solo una “nuova clinica”, ma l’applicazione di un paradigma trasformativo che combina ricerca biomedica e psico-sociale. Il genere viene descritto nelle due accezioni: dell’identità psicologica, diversa in maschi, femmine o altra identità; e dello status sociale percepito e attribuito. Per una ricerca “genere connotata”, va posta particolare attenzione al gender bias, errori legati al genere, rischio presente in ogni misurazione. La ricerca biomedica sta ri-considerando diversi aspetti: campioni di ricerca; metodo di analisi; la persona malata intesa in modo innovativo nell’assetto delle relazioni sociali in cui è coinvolta; l’attenzione agli stimoli provenienti da una società in continua evoluzione. I metodi di ricerca delle scienze umane sono in buona parte basati sul self-reporting, capacità che può essere grandemente compromessa da diversi aspetti legati al genere. Ci si sofferma quindi su due esempi. Il primo prende in considerazione il ruolo di caregiver, tipico delle donne, che a causa di questo stesso ruolo, spesso diventano a loro volta pazienti. Il caregiver burden, il peso psicologico, viene valutato con alcuni strumenti che, però, non stanno contribuendo a farlo assurgere a problema politico-sociale legato alla struttura della società, quale è. Per ottenere un diverso livello di attenzione, necessiteranno altri strumenti e prospettive di ricerca. Il secondo esempio riguarda la depressione. Ci si chiede se ha fondamento scientifico l’affermazione “la depressione è donna” e vengono messi in discussione gli strumenti di rilevazione. Dai dati sappiamo che le donne sono più propense a manifestare e raccontare sintomi di stato d’animo depresso e accedono maggiormente ai servizi per chiedere aiuto. Per gli uomini, invece le norme sociali convenzionali portano a nascondere il proprio disagio interiore adottando l’atteggiamento “aspetta-e-stai-a-vedere”. L’approccio neutro ancora molto presente nei disegni di ricerca, porta a innumerevoli gender bias di struttura e di risultato. Per una ricerca “genere connotata” c’è ancora molto da esplorare.
Per una ricerca "genere connotata": : aspetti metodologici di una sfida
SIGNANI, Fulvia
2016
Abstract
Gender or gender-specific medicine is an emerging clinical discipline that combines biomedical research with developmental psychosocial processes. It encompass es differences between males and females pertaining to both psychological and social aspects. In gender-specific studies, however, the risks for gender bias in measurement should be carefully evaluated, and several aspects are currently under reconsideration in biomedical research, including study samples, methodology, the sick role within the framework of social relations, and the inevitable stimuli imposed by societal changes. Most human science research relies on collection of self-reported data, which may be greatly affected by gender differences. We provide a couple of examples. The first regards the caregiver, typically a woman’s role. Women who fulfill the caregiving responsibilities often experience a high level of burden and psychological distress. Although there are several tools that measure strain related to care provision, none of them contributes to make caregiver burden a crucial political and societal issue of contemporary society. Newer tools and research avenues should be identified to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of caregiver burden. The second example regards depression. The statement that depression is female-specific seems quite unjustified on scientific grounds, and current detection scores or indices have been questioned. Available evidence shows that women are more likely than men to exhibit and report states of low mood, and they access services more frequently than men. Conventional social norms make men more likely than women to deny their symptoms of depression and to mask them with other behaviors, adopting a “wait-and-see”attitude. Many studies still support a genderneutral approach, which suffers from a varying degree of gender bias influencing the design and interpretation of results. There is much left unexplored in gender-specific medical research.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
