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„Male depression“ in einer Bevölkerungsstichprobe junger Männer

Risiko und Symptome

Male depression in a population sample of young males

Risk and symptom profiles

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Zusammenfassung

Das Konzept der „male depression“ geht im Wesentlichen davon aus, dass die klassischen depressiven Symptome bei Männern durch ausagierende Stresssymptome kompensiert bzw. überdeckt werden, die nicht als Depressionssymptome gelten und daher nicht in der üblichen Depressionsdiagnostik berücksichtigt werden. An einer Bevölkerungsstichprobe von jungen Männern (n=1004) wurden deren allgemeines Wohlbefinden und das Risiko einer Male depression anhand der WHO-5 Well-Being Scale und der Gotland Scale for Male Depression untersucht; hierbei stand die Symptomanalyse in Abhängigkeit vom Depressionsrisiko im Vordergrund. Die zu prüfenden Hypothesen betrafen die Maskierung depressiver Symptome, die Dimensionalität der Gotland Scale, die Differenzierung von Symptom-Clustern und die Bedeutung einzelner Symptome für das Depressionsrisiko. Die Ergebnisse dokumentieren ein relativ reduziertes Wohlbefinden der 18-jährigen Männer mit einem Risiko für Male depression von 22%. Es fanden sich keine Hinweise auf eine Maskierung der depressiven Symptome und auf einen latenten Depressions- sowie Stressfaktor. Anhand einer Cluster-Zentren-Analyse konnten jedoch ein „Depressions-Cluster“ und ein „Stress-Cluster“ ermittelt werden; damit ergeben sich Hinweise auf die Relevanz der „männlichen“ Symptome für die Entwicklung einer Depression. Je höher das Depressionsrisiko, desto ausgeprägter sind die Stresssymptome. Welche Bedeutung den Befunden vor dem Hintergrund limitierender Faktoren, bisheriger Evidenzen und offener Fragen zukommt, wird abschließend diskutiert.

Summary

The concept of male depression basically assumes that the well-known depressive symptoms in males are compensated for or masked by external behavioral patterns, which are atypical for depression and therefore not included in conventional depression inventories. In a community sample of young males (n=1,004) the general well-being and risk of male depression were investigated using the WHO-5 Well-Being Scale and the Gotland Scale for Male Depression. The main questions focused on the analysis of symptoms dependent on the risk of male depression. Hypotheses were related to depressive symptoms being masked by distress symptoms, to the dimensionality of the Gotland Scale, to different symptom clusters and to the contribution of isolated symptoms to the risk of depression. The results demonstrated a reduced well-being and a risk of male depression in 22% of the respondents. The data gave no evidence to support the hypothesis that depressive symptoms are masked by distress symptoms or for latent depression and stress components. However, a „depression cluster” and a „distress cluster“ could be differentiated by cluster analyses giving indications of the clinical relevance of the male distress symptoms for the development of depression. The more severe these are, the higher is the risk of male depression. Finally, the results are discussed in the face of the limitations of the study, the previous evidence and open questions.

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  1. Psychiatrische Klinik , LMU, Nußbaumstr. 7, 80336, München, Deutschland

    A.M. Möller-Leimkühler, N.-C Paulus & J. Heller

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  1. A.M. Möller-Leimkühler
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  2. N.-C Paulus
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  3. J. Heller
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Correspondence to A.M. Möller-Leimkühler.

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Möller-Leimkühler, A., Paulus, NC. & Heller, J. „Male depression“ in einer Bevölkerungsstichprobe junger Männer. Nervenarzt 78, 641–650 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00115-006-2173-0

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