title: The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms--a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The increasing gender equality during the 20th century, mainly in the Nordic countries, represents a major social change. A well-established theory is that this may affect the mental health patterns of women and men. This study aimed at examining associations between childhood and adulthood gendered life on mental ill-health symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a medium-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1007) participated during the whole period. Gendered life was divided into three stages according to whether they were traditional or non-traditional (the latter includes equal): childhood (mother's paid work position), adulthood at age 30 (ideology and childcare), and adulthood at age 42 (partnership and childcare). Mental ill-health was measured by self-reported anxious symptoms ("frequent nervousness") and depressive symptoms ("frequent sadness") at age 42. The statistical method was logistic regression analysis, finally adjusted for earlier mental ill-health symptoms and social confounding factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Generally, parents' gendered life was not decisive for a person's own gendered life, and adulthood gender position ruled out the impact of childhood gender experience on self-reported mental ill-health. For women, non-traditional gender ideology at age 30 was associated with decreased risk of anxious symptoms (76% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). For men, non-traditional childcare at age 42 was associated with decreased risk of depressive symptoms (84% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). A contradictory indication was that non-traditional women in childcare at age 30 had a threefold increased risk of anxious symptoms at age 42, but only when having experienced a traditional childhood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adulthood gender equality is generally good for self-reported mental health regardless of whether one opposes or continues one's gendered history. However, the childcare findings indicate a differentiated picture; men seem to benefit in depressive symptoms from embracing this traditionally female duty, while women suffer anxious symptoms from departing from it, if their mother did not.
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 171 76 STOCKHOLM, Sweden. anna.mansdotter@ki.se
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Månsdotter
authors: Mikael
authors: M
authors: Nordenmark
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Hammarström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D063507:Sexism / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult