Androgyny eliminates sex differences in emotional reactivity: ERP and network coupling evidences

The influence of parents on children's consciousness of gender equality: a multi-group structural equation modeling approach

Objective

This study aimed to understand the consciousness of gender equality among school-aged children in China and its influencing factors using structural equation modeling to explore the pathways, intensity and group differences among these factors.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using stratified random whole-group sampling of primary school students in grades 1-6 and their parents who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study, 1,312 valid questionnaires were collected from a total of 1,500 school-aged children in Hunan Province, China (effective response rate of 87.5%). Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0 software. Statistical inference consisted of t-tests, analysis of variance, the LSD test, Pearson correlation analysis, multiple stepwise linear regression analysis and structural equation modeling.

Results

School-aged children had the lowest consciousness of gender equality in the area of occupation and relatively higher consciousness in the areas of family and school. Children's age, gender, gender role, parent-child relationship, teacher-student relationship and parents' gender equality consciousness had predictive effects on children's consciousness of gender equality. The structural equation model constructed in this study is applicable to school-aged children of different genders. There was a significant difference in the structural equation modeling for children in different study period groups.

Conclusion

In the education process, parents and teachers should attempt to improve their own consciousness of gender equality, integrate the concept of androgynous education, enhance close relationships with children, and adopt appropriate education methods according to the characteristics of different groups of children.

A lower gender equality consciousness in rural and left-behind children: a latent class analysis

Objective

School age is a critical period for the development of individual gender equality consciousness. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential classes of school-age children's gender equality consciousness, influencing factors and their differences in gender role, thus providing targeted guidance for the formulation and implementation of gender equality education strategies.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1846 school-age children using the demographic information questionnaire, gender equality consciousness questionnaire and Bem Sex Role Inventory. A latent class analysis was performed to explore gender equality consciousness latent classes. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictors of class membership, and chi-square test was used to compare the gender role of each latent class.

Results

The average age of the included 1846 participants was 10.10 ± 1.82 years old. The proportion of boy, grade 6 and living in urban area, respectively, were 50.8, 25.3, and 60.2%. The only children was 16.3% and left-behind children was 22.5%. 60.5% of all children thought their parents had a good relationship. The core family structure in all participants was 54.1%. Mothers were the caregivers of most children (63.6%). The same-sex friends more than 3 was 73.5%, while opposite-sex friends ranged from 0 to 1 was 41.7%. Three latent classes were identified and labeled "high gender equality consciousness" class (20.6%), "moderate gender equality consciousness" class (42.3%) and "low high gender equality consciousness" class (37.1%). Factors affecting the different types of school-age children's gender equality consciousness include gender, grade, caregiver, place of residence, whether they are left-behind children and parental relationship. Rural and left-behind children are more likely to enter the "low gender equality consciousness" group. Children in the "low gender equality consciousness" group had a lower proportion of androgynous gender role.

Conclusion

Rural children and left-behind children are the priority groups for gender equality education. Gender role is the important predictors and intervention targets of children's gender equality consciousness. Educators or policy makers can formulate targeted intervention measures according to the influencing factors of potential classes.

Insights into Sex and Gender Differences in Brain and Psychopathologies Using Big Data

The societal implication of sex and gender (SG) differences in brain are profound, as they influence brain development, behavior, and importantly, the presentation, prevalence, and therapeutic response to diseases. Technological advances have enabled speed up identification and characterization of SG differences during development and in psychopathologies. The main aim of this review is to elaborate on new technological advancements, such as genomics, imaging, and emerging biobanks, coupled with bioinformatics analyses of data generated from these technologies have facilitated the identification and characterization of SG differences in the human brain through development and psychopathologies. First, a brief explanation of SG concepts is provided, along with a developmental and evolutionary context. We then describe physiological SG differences in brain activity and function, and in psychopathologies identified through imaging techniques. We further provide an overview of insights into SG differences using genomics, specifically taking advantage of large cohorts and biobanks. We finally emphasize how bioinformatics analyses of big data generated by emerging technologies provides new opportunities to reduce SG disparities in health outcomes, including major challenges.

Analysis of Sexual Inhibition and Satisfaction from a Gender Perspective among University Students

University is characterized by a critical stage where students experience their sexuality, across a range of relationships. From these experiences, university students consolidate their personality and their sexual role. Factors such as age, sex, or traumatic experiences of violence or sexual abuse can affect their sexual role. The present study aims to analyze how the variables age, sex and having suffered abuse or violence may predict sexual satisfaction and inhibition. In addition, we analyze the mediating effect that sexual role plays on these relationships. For this purpose, Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI-12), Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), Inhibited Sexual Desire Test (ISD) and New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NESS) were administered to 403 university students. The findings report that sex (β = −0.313), age (β = −0.116) and being a survivor of sexual assault (β = 0.413) are predictive of male role, but not from the female role. Also, people with more male features tend to have lower levels of commitment and inhibition than those who have more female ones.

Sex-Specific Functional Connectivity in the Reward Network Related to Distinct Gender Roles

Gender roles are anti-dichotomous and malleable social constructs that should theoretically be constructed independently from biological sex. However, it is unclear whether and how the factor of sex is related to neural mechanisms involved in social constructions of gender roles. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate sex specificity in gender role constructions and the corresponding underlying neural mechanisms. We measured gender role orientation using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, used a voxel-based global brain connectivity method based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the within-network connectivity in the brain reward network, and analyzed how the integration of the reward network is related to gender role scores between sex groups. An omnibus analysis of voxel-wise global brain connectivity values within a two-level linear mixed model revealed that in female participants, femininity scores were positively associated with integration in the posterior orbitofrontal cortex and subcallosal cortex, whereas masculinity scores were positively associated with integration in the frontal pole. By contrast, in male participants, masculinity was negatively correlated with integration in the nucleus accumbens and subcallosal cortex. For the first time, the present study revealed the sex-specific neural mechanisms underlying distinct gender roles, which elucidates the process of gender construction from the perspective of the interaction between reward sensitivity and social reinforcement.

Depression is Associated with Moderate-Intensity Physical Activity Among College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differs by Activity Level, Gender and Gender Role

PURPOSE

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and associated restrictive measures have implications for depressive symptoms (henceforth depression) of young people and risk may be associated with their reduced physical activity (PA) level. Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between depressive symptoms and PA among college students with different gender and gender role (masculinity traits and femininity traits) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study included 628 healthy college students from nineteen different locations. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scales (CES-D), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF), and the 50-item Chinese Sex-Role Inventory (CSRI-50) were used to measure depressive symptoms, PA continuous (weekly metabolic equivalent minutes, MET-minutes/week) and categorical indicators (activity level category) and gender role, respectively. The statistical analyses were used in partial correlation analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, moderation model tests, and linear regression model tests.

RESULTS

Total of 34.72% participants had clinically relevant depression (16, CES-D scale). Total of 58.6% participants were classified as a "low" activity level for spending less time on PA. Depression significantly negatively correlated with MET-minutes/week in moderate-intensity PA but not vigorous and walking scores. Of note, the depression-PA association was only moderated by the "low" activity level group in terms of categorical scores across gender groups. Participants with higher masculinity traits were less likely to have depression among all participants. Moreover, more recovered cases and fewer deaths could also predict the lower depression risk in the "high" activity level group.

CONCLUSION

Moderate-intensity PA is beneficial for reducing depression risk among college students at a low activity level. College students with fewer masculinity traits (regardless of gender) are highly vulnerable to depression during the outbreak of COVID-19. Effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic seems critical to alleviating the burden of mental disorders of the public including depression.