Women's fatigue is not physical depletion it's cognitive saturation

This study found that women university students consistently reported more fatigue, stress, and poorer sleep than men across two independent samples, and that higher stress levels partially explained women's greater fatigue. However, the study does not support the idea that women's fatigue is specifically a matter of cognitive saturation — the key cognitive pathway tested (repetitive negative thinking) showed no difference between men and women and was dropped from all analyses.

• The main driver identified is stress, not a purely cognitive process
• The one 'cognitive' candidate (repetitive negative thinking) failed to differ by sex in this sample
• The fatigue scales used measure impact of fatigue, not whether it is cognitive or physical in origin — the study cannot answer which type of depletion is driving the difference
• All participants were young university students, so results may not apply to working adults or other age groups
• Men were substantially less physically active — a factor linked to fatigue — that was not controlled in the key statistical models