Women are twice as likely as men to have an anxiety disorder and experience greater functional impairment. Possible explanations for gender differences include women may be more likely to report symptoms, men are more likely to be encouraged to face fears and feel a sense of control over situations, women are more likely to experience sexual assault that may interfere with sense of control, and women show more biological reactivity to stress and have higher neuroticism levels.
Culture and environment influence what people are fearful or anxious about. Two culture specific syndromes are kayak-angst and taijin kyofusho. Kayak-angst is an inuit disorder in seal hunters at sea which is similar to panic disorder. Taijin kyofusho is a Japanese fear of displeasing or embarrassing other which is similar to social anxiety disorder. The rate of anxiety disorders varies by culture with prevalence ranging from 3-19% and being at its highest in Europe and USA than other countries.
As noted, gender and culture can have various effects on anxiety disorders. A research study observed the effects of gender differences in social anxiety disorder. The purpose of the study was to observe how gender differences effect the prevalence, comorbidity, age of onset, treatment seeking, clinical presentation, functional impairment, subjective distress, and clinical implications of social anxiety disorder. The methods included using the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication to observe how the differences in gender can be seen in social anxiety disorder. The results showed that women are more likely to have social anxiety disorder and present with a higher severity of the disorder and display greater distress. However, men were more likely to have conduct and substance abuse disorders compared to women who were more likely to have posttraumatic stress disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. This suggests that anxiety disorders present differently in genders with different experiences based upon gender. This should be considered when assessment treatment plans and therapy.
Asher, M., & Aderka, I. M. (2018). Gender differences in social anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(10), 1730–1741. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22624