Men’s Psychotherapy Use, Male Role Norms, and Male-Typical Depression Symptoms: Examining 716 Men and Women Experiencing Psychological Distress

Men as compared to women are half as often affected by depressive and anxiety disorders and seek significantly less help for mental health issues than women. Adherence to traditional male role norms (AtTMRN) may hinder men from describing prototypical depression symptoms and from seeking psychotherapy. The current study compared whether AtTMRN, gender role identity, or the experience of prototypical or male-typical externalizing mental health symptoms were associated with psychotherapy use in men and women. In an anonymous online survey, 716 participants (37% men) reporting to currently experience psychological distress were examined. Information was obtained on psychotherapy use, depression and anxiety symptoms, gender role identity, and traditional male role norms. Although experiencing similar levels of depression, men compared to women showed a reduction in psychotherapy use by 29%. Masculine role identity was directly associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men (β = −0.41, p = 0.029), whereas AtTMRN was not (men: β = −0.04, p = 0.818; women: β = −0.25, p = 0.064). Higher externalizing depression symptomatology (β = −0.68, p = 0.005), but not prototypical depression symptomatology (β = −0.02, p = 0.499), was associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men but not women (p > 0.05). Interactions revealed that men, but not women, with high AtTMRN use psychotherapy only when exhibiting elevated symptom levels. The results corroborate previous reports showing reduced psychotherapy use in men as compared to women and identify elevated masculine role identity and male-typical externalizing depression symptomatology as direct factors associated with reduced psychotherapy use in psychologically distressed men. AtTMRN interacts with mental health symptoms to predict psychotherapy use, indicating that men with high AtTMRN only use psychotherapy when exhibiting high symptomatology.

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Measurement Invariance and Comparison of Mean Scores by Age Cohort of Two Versions of the Male Role Norms Inventory

Men and Masculinities ◽

10.1177/1097184x211017620 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1097184X2110176

Author(s):

Ronald F. Levant ◽

Javier Martin-Fernandez ◽

Ryon C. McDermott ◽

Edward H. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

Short Form ◽

Male Role ◽

Men And Women ◽

Age Cohorts ◽

Masculinity Ideology ◽

Age Cohort ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Traditional Masculinity ◽

Role Norms

This study was designed to inquire into the effects of aging versus age cohort by examining how men and women representing four age cohorts across the life span endorse masculinity ideology. Ascertaining whether different groups (such as age cohorts) understand a scale in the same way by assessing measurement invariance is a fundamental but oft-ignored prerequisite to comparing their scores on the scale. The Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) is a multidimensional measure used to assess beliefs in specific norms of masculinity, as well as general beliefs in traditional masculinity ideology (TMI). A five-item unidimensional MRNI -Very Brief (MRNI-VB) has also been developed measuring TMI only. This study administered the MRNI-SF (which includes the five items for the MRNI-VB) to 1,352 men and women in four age cohorts: young, established, middle-aged, and older. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses found support for partial strong invariance for the MRNI-SF across age cohorts. Support for partial strict invariance was found for the MRNI-VB across age cohorts. For both scales, the effect sizes of non-invariant parameters were small in magnitude, thus non-invariance may have little practical significance. These results suggest that the MRNI-SF and the MRNI-VB measure similar masculinity ideology constructs across men and women in four age cohorts. Mean scores on each instrument were therefore compared across age cohorts with confidence, finding that the age cohorts commonly did not endorse “traditional” masculinity ideology, but differed in the level of disagreement with the tenets of TMI in six out of nine comparisons. In five of those six, older adults hewed more strongly to TMI than younger adults, suggesting that age cohort was more determinative of masculinity beliefs than age.

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Supplemental Material for Confirmatory Factor Analytic Investigation of Variance Composition, Gender Invariance, and Validity of the Male Role Norms Inventory-Adolescent-revised (MRNI-A-r)

Journal of Counseling Psychology ◽

10.1037/cou0000163.supp ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

Analytic Investigation ◽

Male Role ◽

Gender Invariance ◽

Factor Analytic ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms

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Physical disability: A challenge to traditional male role norms

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e413522005-014 ◽

1996 ◽

Author(s):

Neil A. Massoth ◽

Keyword(s):

Physical Disability ◽

Male Role ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms

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Development and validation of a five-item Male Role Norms Inventory using bifactor modeling.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity ◽

10.1037/men0000178 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 467-477 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ryon C. McDermott ◽

Ronald F. Levant ◽

Joseph H. Hammer ◽

Nicholas C. Borgogna ◽

Daniel K. McKelvey

Keyword(s):

Male Role ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Bifactor Modeling ◽

Development And Validation ◽

Role Norms

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Toward diversifying research participants: Measurement invariance of the Male Role Norms Inventory–Short Form (MRNI-SF) across recruitment method.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity ◽

10.1037/men0000138 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 531-539 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronald F. Levant ◽

Eric R. McCurdy

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

Short Form ◽

Recruitment Method ◽

Male Role ◽

Research Participants ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms

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Supplemental Material for A Content Analysis of Research on Masculinity Ideologies Using All Forms of the Male Role Norms Inventory (MRNI)

Psychology of Men & Masculinity ◽

10.1037/men0000134.supp ◽

2017 ◽

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Male Role ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms

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Male Role Norms Scale

PsycTESTS Dataset ◽

10.1037/t06406-000 ◽

1986 ◽

Author(s):

Edward H. Thompson ◽

Joseph H. Pleck

Keyword(s):

Male Role ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms

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More on The Structure of Male Role Norms

Psychology of Women Quarterly ◽

10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00147.x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 135-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Ann R. Fischer ◽

David M. Tokar ◽

Glenn E. Good ◽

Andrea F. Snell

Keyword(s):

Factor Model ◽

Future Research ◽

Validation Sample ◽

Male Role ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽

Total N ◽

Masculinity Ideology ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms ◽

Best Fit

This study assessed the structure of a widely used measure of masculinity ideology, the Male Role Norms Scale (Thompson & Pleck, 1986), using data from four samples of male college students (total N= 656) at two large, public universities (one Midwestern, one Eastern-Central). Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor model best fit the data in the exploratory sample (sample 1; N = 210). The four factors were Status/Rationality, Antifemininity, Tough Image, and Violent Toughness. A series of confirmatory factor analyses on a validation sample (samples 2, 3, and 4; N = 446), tested four models based on theory (i.e., Brannon, 1976) and previous research (i.e., Thompson & Pleck, 1986). Results from Study 1, our exploratory analysis, indicated that the four-factor model derived from the exploratory sample in Study 1 provided the best fit for the validation sample data of all models tested and also provided a good fit in absolute terms, according to several model–data fit indices. Implications for the assessment of masculinity ideology and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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