In a cross-sectional sample of 752 adults, psychological distress was strongly correlated with social discrimination, women showed higher psychological distress after adjustment, men reported higher discrimination and resilience, and the authors conclude that men and women use distinct, non-linear coping mechanisms, supporting a gender-sensitive approach to mental health.
Psychological distress was strongly positively correlated with social discrimination.
Resilience and perceived social support were moderately positively correlated.
Women made up the large majority of participants who cited gender as a reason for discrimination.
After adjustment in linear regression, women showed higher psychological distress than men.
In group comparisons, men showed higher levels of social discrimination and resilience than women.
The authors interpret the findings as showing that men and women use distinct coping mechanisms for adversity, which do not follow a linear pattern.
This study surveyed 752 adults in Portugal, aged 18 to 84, about their mental distress, experiences of everyday discrimination, perceived social support, and resilience. It looked at how these factors relate to each other and whether the patterns differ between women and men. People who reported more discrimination also reported much more psychological distress, and people with more social support tended to be more resilient. Women made up almost all (95%) of those who said gender was a reason for being discriminated against. After accounting for other factors, women had higher psychological distress than men, even though men reported more discrimination overall and higher resilience when the groups were compared. This research suggests that women and men may cope with adversity in different ways, and that these differences are not simple or straight-line. The authors argue that mental health research and policy should take gender, and the overlap of multiple social identities, into account. Because the study is cross-sectional, it shows associations at one point in time and cannot show that discrimination causes distress.
M. Cruz, Jóni Ledo, Iara Teixeira, Catarina Oliveira, Henrique Pereira. (2026). Social Discrimination and Psychological Distress Across Gender: The Effects of Social Support and Resilience.. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640261489819