Psychological distress, gender, and health lifestyles in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine

This paper examines the relationship between psychological distress, gender, and health lifestyles in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. These countries have been subjected to highly stressful and extensive social change associated with the transition out of communism. Data were collected by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2006-11, Vol.63 (9), p.2381-2394
Main Authors: Cockerham, William C., Hinote, Brian P., Abbott, Pamela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol use
Alcoholism
Belarus
Biological and medical sciences
Diet
Emotional disorders
Europe, Eastern
Female
Gender
General aspects
Health Behavior
Health lifestyles
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Kazakhstan
Life Style
Life styles
Lifestyle
Lifestyles
Male
Medical sciences
Mental health
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Mortality - trends
Personal health
Psychological distress
Psychological distress Health lifestyles Kazakhstan Russia Ukraine Belarus Gender
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Russia
Russian Federation
Sex Factors
Smoking
Social Change
Stress, Psychological
Studies
Ukraine
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Summary:This paper examines the relationship between psychological distress, gender, and health lifestyles in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. These countries have been subjected to highly stressful and extensive social change associated with the transition out of communism. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews ( n = 10 , 406 ) in November 2001. Distress was measured by 12 psychological distress symptoms. Health lifestyles focused on measures of alcohol consumption, smoking and diet. We found that females carried a much heavier burden of psychological distress than males, but this distress did not translate into greater alcohol consumption and smoking for these women or for men. The greatest influence of distress on health lifestyle practices was on daily diets in that both less distressed females and males consumed a more balanced diet than more distressed persons. Our findings suggest that it is the normative demands of a particular lifestyle, rather than distress, that principally shapes the pattern of heavy male drinking. This is an important finding as some sources indicate heavy drinking is largely responsible for the health crisis in the former socialist states.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.06.001