A research project involving over 3,000 middle-aged and later-aged women in England has uncovered that individuals who felt they had been subjected to gender discrimination were more prone to experiencing declines in their wellbeing over time. Ruth Hackett from King’s College London, UK, and her team shared these insights in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 20, 2024.
Previous studies have indicated that individuals who believe they have faced gender discrimination tend to report lower mental wellbeing. However, these studies often did not track wellbeing longitudinally or primarily focused on younger demographics.
To understand how this dynamic plays out among older women, Hackett and her colleagues examined data from 3,081 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), which tracks a broad demographic of people over 50.
During 2010 or 2011, each participant responded to queries regarding the frequency of their encounters with various forms of discrimination, such as harassment or receiving less respect or courtesy, and whether they attributed these experiences to their gender or another characteristic like race or age. They also completed standard questionnaires to assess mental wellbeing on two occasions, first in 2010 or 2011 and then in 2016 or 2017.
About 9.2 per cent of the participants reported experiencing gender discrimination, often in situations where they were treated with less respect or courtesy. Notably, those who perceived gender discrimination reported higher instances of depressive symptoms, increased loneliness, and a decline in both quality of life and life satisfaction. From one time point to the next, there was a tendency among these women to report worsened quality of life and life satisfaction, along with heightened feelings of loneliness. These observations remained significant even after adjusting for other factors related to wellbeing, such as age, wealth, and physical activity levels.
These outcomes point to a possible link between perceived gender discrimination and deteriorating mental wellbeing in women during middle age and beyond, leading the researchers to advocate for intensified efforts to combat gender discrimination. They also highlight the importance of further investigations to better understand this association’s underpinnings and overcome the study’s limitations, including its lack of diversity among participants.
The researchers concluded: “Our findings reveal that middle-aged and older women who experienced perceived sexism were more susceptible to depression and loneliness compared to those who did not perceive sexism. Additionally, these women indicated lower levels of life satisfaction and poor quality of life. The enduring negative impact of gender-based discrimination on mental health and wellbeing observed six years later raises significant concerns.”
More information: Ruth A. Hackett et al, The relationship between gender discrimination and wellbeing in middle-aged and older women, PLoS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299381
Journal information: PLoS ONE Provided by PLOS
