The interplay of sex and gender on the reactivity of the endocrine stress axis in humans

Abstract

In response to psychological and physiological stressors, metabolic systems of the human body change their activation to increase energy availability, and allow the organism to cope with the real or perceived increase in demand. An inappropriate stress response, perhaps caused by a dysregulation of the metabolic stress response systems, is believed to be associated with an increased risk for development of (psycho) pathology.The observation that men and women differ in their stress responsivity is important in this context, as men and women also systematically differ in their risk for developing disease. Women are more likely to suffer from autoimmune disorders, anxiety disorders, dementia, to name just a few. Investigating the reasons for the stress responsivity differences between men and women has thus been an important area of research for several decades, and we are now at a point where we better understand some of the underlying mechanisms. There are both biological and cultural effects at play that contribute to establishing these reactivity differences between men and women, with recent findings providing limited support for the idea that cultural effects might have the greater impact. The current selective review summarizes some of the key findings from the last 25 years to provide an overview of this interesting topic.