Understanding Gender as a Fundamental Cause of Health: Simultaneous Linear Relationships between Gender,Mental Health,and Physical Health Over Time

Abstract

Responding to calls to move beyond mental or physical health examinations of gender and health, and to systemically understand the relationships between mental health, physical health, and social identity locations, we explored the extent to which gender is a fundamental cause of health by estimating the relationships between gender, mental health, and physical health simultaneously. We analyzed nationally representative longitudinal data from Waves I and III of the American Changing Lives Survey, and estimated general and gender-specific structural equation models to better understand direct and indirect effects of the structural relationships between gender, mental health, and physical health over time. Our findings suggest mental health outcomes drive the likelihood of physical health outcomes in the case of women only, whereas for men, there is no direct nor significant relationship. However, we find persistent effects of anxiety on limited daily activities for men, but not for women. In conclusion, we discuss potential lessons learned from using such analytic methods and the implications of our findings as they relate to gender and health.