Abstract
Purpose/Background: To examine whether male and female caregivers of children with a disorder of sex development (DSD) differ in levels of anxious and depressive symptoms.
Materials/Methods: Participants included 80 caregivers (40 males, 40 females) of 40 children with a DSD. Children were categorized based on illness characteristics including ambiguous genitalia, life-threatening, and life-threatening with ambiguous genitalia. Caregivers completed measures of anxious and depressive symptoms.
Results: A significant caregiver×diagnosis interaction for anxious symptoms emerged, with male caregivers of children with both ambiguous genitalia and a life-threatening condition reporting significantly lower levels of anxious symptoms than female caregivers of the same children.
Conclusions: The findings are surprising because of the low level of anxious symptoms reported by male caregivers of children with a complex DSD. It is possible that they have disengaged themselves from the child and/or diagnosis, causing their female counterparts to take on more responsibility.
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