Rethinking the Study of Gender and Mental Health

Gender differences in mental health status and their social determinants have drawn considerable attention in the sociology of mental health. This paper synthesizes empirical findings concerning this subject, and discusses gaps remaining in the literature. More efforts are recommended in regards to attentive examinations of (1) dynamic social contexts, (2) dissimilarities among groups in different social locations, and (3) individuals ’ interpretations of their distress experiences. In other words, I argue that a study of gender and mental health should not limit its investigation to gender comparison, but extend its exploration to the complexity of social and emotional lives. To achieve this goal, I propose a diamond-shaped model that highlights both structural (social and cultural) and individual (biomedical and psychological) aspects of mental health. This model suggests that sociologists focus on intersectional diversity (such as gender, class, and ethnicity), the cultural meanings of individuals ’ social and emotional lives shaped by their standpoints, the interplay of these structural factors, and its impact on psychological well-being