Background: The purpose of this work was to examine the sociodemographic, psychological, and health-related factors (considered jointly) associated with poor mental health in midlife and to analyze whether risk and protective factors differed in men and women.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a middle-class sample of 252 women and 189 men between 45 and 65 years of age from Spanish rural areas. Mental health status was measured with the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12; Goldberg & Williams, 1988). Multiple logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios with confidence intervals of 95%, adjusting for confounding variables.
Results: The percentage of women (14.3%) with poor mental health was twice that of the men (7.4%). In women, the following variables were significantly and positively related to poor mental health: consumption of psychoactive drugs, physiological and cognitive anxiety; self-esteem and family satisfaction were protective factors. For men, physical complaints and cognitive anxiety were significant risk factors, and job satisfaction was a protective factor.
Conclusions: In general, the psychological variables were more clearly related to poor mental health. Women had a more unfavorable profile, and the variables related to poor mental health differed for men and women, perhaps due to social roles associated with gender. To facilitate diagnosis and take preventive measures, men's and women's risk factors for poor mental health should be differentiated.