Q. Are men more likely to be claustrophobic than women?

问：男性比女性更容易患幽闭恐惧症吗？

A. The opposite seems to be true, as is the case in almost all anxiety disorders, large epidemiological studies have found. The reasons for such a gender difference are not clear, and claustrophobia, the feeling of extreme panic when faced with being in a confined or enclosed space, is not as well studied as some other phobias.

答：不。几乎所有关于焦虑症的大型流行病学研究都显示，事实恰好相反。人们尚不清楚为什么会出现这样的性别差异，对于幽闭恐惧症（患者在面对局限或封闭空间时会感觉极度恐慌）的研究也不像其它恐惧症那样充分。

One situation that has been comparatively well researched is what happens when people need magnetic resonance imaging, which often involves a prolonged period of confinement in a small enclosure, the perfect storm of claustrophobia triggers.

目前研究相对深入的是人们接受磁共振成像检查时的情况。此时人需要长时间待在仪器内部的狭小封闭空间中不能乱动，非常容易触发幽闭恐惧症。

A recent study found that certain factors seem to correlate with an increase in claustrophobic reactions, including being female, going into the scanner head first and having a previous negative experience with the test. Another large study involving scanners with a shorter chamber and noise reduction found a significant reduction in claustrophobic reactions, but being female and middle-aged were still associated with a higher rate of claustrophobia.

最近的研究发现，有一些因素似与幽闭恐惧反应的增加相关，其中包括性别为女性、第一次进入扫描头、在以前的检查中曾有过负面体验等。另一项大型研究使用了腔室较短并经过降噪的扫描仪，结果发现幽闭恐惧反应显著减少，但身为女性和年届中年仍与较高的幽闭恐惧症发生率相关。

It has often been assumed that claustrophobia develops as a response to a traumatic experience, like being trapped in a closet as a child, but newer research suggests a genetic component. In one study in mice, a single defective gene was associated with claustrophobia.

人们通常认为，幽闭恐惧症的发生是对创伤性经历（如儿时被困在衣柜里）的反应，但新的研究表明，遗传因素在其中也有一定的作用。小鼠研究发现，有一个单基因缺陷与幽闭恐惧症相关。