Study: Gender differences in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Released: 2020-07-09
Previous research has demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic is negatively affecting the mental health of Canadians. Today, a new study highlights gender differences in the pandemic's impacts on the mental health of participants in a recent crowdsourcing survey, conducted by Statistics Canada from April 24 to May 11, 2020. Around 46,000 Canadian residents participated in this survey.
Female participants were more likely than their male counterparts to report "fair" or "poor" self-rated mental health, "somewhat worse" or "much worse" mental health since physical distancing began, and symptoms consistent with moderate or severe generalized anxiety disorder in the two weeks before completing the questionnaire. Female participants were also more likely than male participants to report that their lives were "quite a bit stressful" or "extremely stressful."
Gender-diverse participants—that is, participants who did not report their current gender as exclusively female or male—reported poorer mental health outcomes than both female and male participants across all measures.
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For more information, readers are invited to consult "Gender differences in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic," part of the StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada series (45280001).
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For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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