Xth European Congress of Psychology Prague 3-6 – July, 2007, Prague, Czech Republic Sociodemographic and health related factors associated with poor mental health in midlife Spanish women Authors: Virginia Dresch, PhD (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, and Centro Universitário Feevale, Brazil), María del Pilar Sánchez-López, PhD (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), Francisco Javier Corbalán-Berná, PhD (Universidad de Murcia, Spain) and Juan José López García, PhD (Universidad de Murcia, Spain) Method Introduction Men and women differ in the prevalence and severity of mental illness (Sánchez-López, 2003). Although en la infancia boys have more psychiatric problems than girls (Earls, 1987), la pubertad (especialmente en los países desarrollados) produce un cambio radical en las estadísticas sobre mental illness according sex (Almqvist, 1986): the major disorders (i.e. mood disorders, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, etc.) become substantially more common in women than in men. En todo caso, the addictive, sexual an impulse-control disorders continue to be more prevalent in men (Seeman, 2000). Among the personality disorders, only antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed more frequently in men than in women (Offord, Boyle, Campbell, Goering, Ling, Wong & Racine, 1996). Adjustment disorders and schizophrenia are essentially equally prevalent (Seeman, 2000). Suelen proponerse causas de distinto tipo para explicar estas diferencias, incluyendo male/female differences in help-seeking, male/female differences in access to health care in certain social classes and geographic areas (Rhodes & Goering, 1994) and socio-cultural dimensions (Pugliesi, 1992). El propósito de este trabajo es verificar cuáles son los sociodemographic, psychosocial and health related factors associated with poor mental health in midlife y analizar si estas relaciones difieren según sexo. Participants N = 441 Ages = 45-65 years Mean age = 51,91; Sx = 5,32 Instruments and Variables Mental health 12-Item General Health Questionnaire-GHQ-12 (Goldberg & William, 1988) Cuestionario con preguntas sobre nível de estudios, estado civil y nivel socioeconómico. Sociodemographic factors Cuestionario con preguntas sobre ingesta de fármacos, ingesta de psicofármacos, satisfacción familiar, satisfacción familiar y satisfacción global. Physical Health Anxiety (ISRA - Inventario de Situaciones y Respuestas de Ansiedad (Miguel-Tobal & Cano-Vindel, 2002l). Self-esteem (RES - Rosenberg Self-esteem Questionnaire; Rosenberg, 1965). Psychological health Purpose El propósito de este trabajo es verificar cuáles son los sociodemographic, psychosocial and health related factors associated with poor mental health in midlife y analizar si estas relaciones difieren según sexo. Instruments and Variables The questionnaires were administered individually in 1-hour sessions in which participation was voluntary. The statistical package SPSS version 12.0 was used for logistic regression analysis. Results Conclusions References Acknowledgements The data comes from a pluri-annual investigation funded by the Women’s Institute of the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs (Spain), reference number: 42/02. Grupo de Investigación Estilos Psicológicos,Género y Salud Research Group Psychological Styles, Gender and Health