Gender bias

• Gender bias causes males to be more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, male mental health is used as a benchmark - questions have arisen as to whether the observed gender differences in SZ are 'real' differences or are simply due to gender bias in diagnosis
• Reliability - Loring and Powell

  • presented 290 psychiatrists with the same case
  • when presented as
  • male or no gender - 56% of the time, diagnosed
  • female - 20% of the time, diagnosed
  • suggests there is a lack of reliability and consistency when diagnosing males and females
• Validity

  • males and females have similar symptoms but females are far more likely to continue work and maintain relationships
  • females have better coping mechanisms so can mask the severity of their symptoms
  • this suggests male mental health is used as a benchmark for assessment
  • leading to underdiagnosis in females, therefore no early treatment and longer-lasting suffering with a worse prognosis