1 Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences Lecture 53

2 Office Hour Invitations March 8 th, 1:30-2:30, Kenny

3 Physical Health: 1. What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued)

4 By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. review health behaviours that may contribute to sex differences in mortality and morbidity. 3. explain the greater susceptibility to smoking-related lung cancer among females than males. 2. discuss trends across time and sex differences in smoking and lung cancer rates.

5 5. explain the poorer quit rates of smoking among females than males. 4. review the stages of the worldwide tobacco epidemic.

6 2. Health Behaviours (continued) What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued) (b) Smoking  Smoking rates have decreased over the last several decades. Today, 21.4% of Canadians smoke (Statistics Canada, 2009).

7  Males (24.3%) are more likely to smoke than females (18.5%), which may contribute to the higher mortality rate among males. However, the sex gap in smoking rates is decreasing:

Smoking Rates by Sex, 1977 to 2007 (Statistics Canada, 2003, 2009) Percent 8

Camel Cigarette Ads Targeted at Girls: Camel launched a No. 9 cigarette ad campaign in which it ran promotional giveaways, including flavoured lip balm, cell phone jewelry, purses and wristbands. 9

10  Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among males and females (Statistics Canada, 2006):  Females who smoke are at greater risk for developing lung cancer than males who smoke (odds ratio of developing lung cancer = 1.2 – 1.7; Ernster, 1996; Shriver et al., 2000).

Lung and Breast Cancer Mortality Rates, 1979 to 2001 (Statistics Canada, 2006) The sex difference in mortality due to lung cancer is narrowing: Over the last several decades, there has been a greater decline in smoking initiation among males than females and a higher quit rate among males than females. 11

Stages of Worldwide Tobacco Epidemic 12

13  Intervention studies have shown that males are more successful at quitting smoking than females (Bjornson et al., 1995; Wetter et al., 1999).

14 Physical Health: 1. What factors account for sex differences in health? (continued)