GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HOSTILITY AMONG DEPRESSED AND MEDICAL OUTPATIENTS

We assessed possible gender differences in state and trait hostility i n a large sample of depressed outpatients and in a group of medical ou tpatients. We administered the Cook and Medley Hostility Scale, measur ing trait hostility and aggressiveness, and the Symptom Questionnaire, including a state measure of irritability and hostility, to 218 depre ssed outpatients and 51 medical outpatients. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between severity of depression and o ur state measure of hostility, and a weak, although statistically sign ificant, relationship between severity of depression and total score o f our trait measure of hostility. Among depressed outpatients, trait h ostility was greater in men than in women, while no significant gender difference was observed in state hostility. Among medical outpatients , the state hostility scale scores were significantly higher in men th an in women. These gender differences in both groups remained signific ant even after adjusting for severity of depression. Thus, it appears that men with depression tend to have higher scores than women on stat e and trait measures of hostility, suggesting that men may be at great er risk than women of developing patterns of pathologic aggression and hostile behavior.