Sex differences in minor psychiatric morbidity: a survey of a homogeneous population.

Epidemiological methods of psychiatric assessment were used to examine whether there is a sex difference in the constitutional vulnerability of the male and female phenotype to minor psychiatric morbidity. In order to minimise the effect of environment and of sex roles and stereotypes as far as possible, a sample of relatively homogeneous employed men and women are studied. No sex difference in prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity or its outcome was found in this population of men and women of similar age, education, occupation and social environment. However, women did report significantly more somatic symptoms of psychogenic origin.