Gender roles and changing patterns of mental health

Are the changing social and occupational roles of women affecting patterns of mental health? Social determinants cause many of the physical and mental health differences that exist among men and women. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is see if these differences are changing traditional patterns of mental health among women and, if so, identify the changes. Utilizing growth curve models to examine data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative U. S. study that provides occupational and family variables that can be associated with mental health outcomes, this research investigates the possibility of a new female pattern of mental health. The results will be theoretically informed by social determinants, sex roles, and self-salience theories.