Women Worry More than Men

A woman sits in bed, looking worried.
(Image credit: Worried woman photo via Shutterstock)

U.S. women are more likely than men to say they often feel worried, nervous or anxious, according to a recent survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the survey, which took place in 2010 and 2011, about 22 percent of women said they feltworried, nervous, or anxious daily or weekly, compared to 16 percent of men.

In general, these feelings were more common in young and middle-age adults than older people. Previous studies have found older adults are generally happier and less stressed than younger people.

In the new study, participants were asked "How often do you feel worried, nervous, or anxious? Would you say daily, weekly, monthly, a few times a year, or never?"

For men, 17 percent of those ages 18 to 44, and 18 percent of those between 45 and 64 reported daily or weekly worry, nervousness or anxiety. About 23 percent of women ages 18 to 64 said the same.

Among those over age 75, 11 percent of men and 16 percent of women reported such feelings.

The study will be published in this week's issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Pass it on: Women are more likely to say they often feel worried, nervous or anxious.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+.

Rachael Rettner
Contributor

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.