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This study examines the question of gender-equivalent outcomes of mental health and social behavior in the context of crowding stress. It tests the hypothesis that gender will influence the exhibition of stress outcomes resulting from exposure to high-density living environments, with women displaying internalized responses and men responding with externalized styles. Expanding on the types of gender-appropriate disorders examined in this area of research, I selected depression, aggression, and withdrawal as gender-specific disorders based on theory and prior research. Multilevel analyses of data from a survey of Toronto residents indicate that, while the effects of household density are conditioned by gender, support for the existence of gender-equivalent outcomes is mixed. While women living in crowded homes are more likely to be depressed, men exposed to high-density living environments do not report increased aggression. However, men report higher levels of withdrawal, and some males respond with both aggression and withdrawal.
A growing body of literature examines the relationship between environmental stressors and mental health outcomes. However, this research has been criticized for its reliance on measures of internalized symptoms such as depression and anxiety (Horwitz and Davies 1994; Horwitz, White, and Howell-White 1996). Examining single outcomes misses the possibility that responses to exposure to stress may vary across individuals, and this strategy results in an underestimation of the overall influence of the stressor (Cassel 1974; Pearlin 1989). The reliance on single outcome measures, particularly internalized outcomes, may be especially problematic when estimating gender differences in response to stressors as higher rates of internalized distress among women are well documented (see, for review, Cleary 1987; Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend 1976; Dohrenwend et al. 1980; Gove 1979; Nolen-Hoeksema 1987); and males exhibit higher rates of antisocial personality and alcohol and drug use and abuse (Aneshensel et al. 1991; Horwitz and Davies 1994; Horwitz and White 1987; Kessleret al. 1994; Lennon 1987; Myersetal. 1984; Regier et al. 1988; Robins et al. 1984; Rosenfield 1999; Simon 1998).
This paper argues that our understanding of the social and behavioral consequences of crowding across different social groups has been obscured by relying on single outcome measures because these groups likely exhibit different responses to stressors (Aneshensel, Rutter, and Lachenbruch 1991; Horwitz 2002; Horwitz et al. 1996). More specifically, reliance on gender-linked...