SPECIFIC FEATURES OF GENDER ROLE BEHAVIOR IN MALES WITH PANIC DISORDER

The Sandra Bam index was used to assess the gender type of behavior in 70 patients with panic disorder (PD) and in 50 healthy individuals. The masculine type was found in 4.3% of the patients versus 22% of the healthy population (p = 0.002). The dominant gender types were androgynous and masculine in the healthy men; on the contrary, feminine gender role behavior is most common in the men with PD. Gender behavior in the men was associated with the type of PD. PD with agoraphobia is characteristic of the men with feminine gender behavior and that without agoraphobia was more common in the men with androgynous gender behavior, in whom alcoholic excesses were a characteristic trigger of the first attacks. Inadequate masculinization is a characteristic personality trait in the patients with PD and a predisposing factor in the formation of avoidance behavior.

panic disorder, gender role behavior, masculine role behavior, agoraphobia