CCT 28-1_LR

research digest

« FERNANDO GARZON, PSY.D.

Traditional Men and Psychotherapy

Outside of the TMI features, they found intriguing results for the role of one key factor, depression, as to when men seek therapy. Through an online survey of 1,602 participants from a combination of university psychology courses and Craigslist, researchers discovered that depression moderates the relationship between TMI features and seeking therapy. Typically, as masculine atti tudes rise in men, they become more reluctant to seek treatment; however, when men experience high enough levels of depression, this effect does not occur. The opposite did. Race, ethnicity, and sexual partner preference did not influence depression’s moder ating influence on TMI features and help-seeking attitudes toward therapy. “Depression appears to play a key role in limiting or even reversing the negative relationships between TMI and intentions to seek therapy, and… this role applies broadly across the male population, irrespective of race, ethnicity, and sexual partner preferences” (p. 234). These intrigu ing preliminary findings need to be repeated with higher quality surveys and longitudinal studies. Men’s Psychotherapy Dropout and Conformity to Traditional Masculinity Ideologies Schneeberger, M., Ehlert, U., Eggen berger, L., Seidler, Z.E., Wilson, M.J., Fisher, K., & Walther, A. (2024). Men’s psychotherapy dropout is associated with conformity to traditional masculinity ideolo gies. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 34 (4), 420-433. Schneeberger and fellow researchers wanted to investigate the relationship between a man’s traditional masculine

T his Research Digest (traditional masculine ideology, TMI). TMI includes several features: restrictive emotionality, high self reliance, avoidance of femininity, a tendency toward dominance, and toughness/risk-taking. In particular, we will learn about how depression influences when men high in TMI seek therapy and how features of TMI impact whether men drop out of therapy. We also see how TMI features affect treatment outcomes for male veterans. explores recent studies on traditional masculine beliefs and attitudes

Men’s Endorsement of Traditional Masculine Ideology and Intentions to Seek Psychotherapy Levant, R.F., McCurdy, E.R., Keum, B.T.H., Cox, D.W., Halter, M.J., Stefanov, D.G., & Borden, K.A. (2022). Mediation and moderation of the relationship between men’s endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and intentions to seek psychotherapy. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 53 (3), 234-243. Levant and colleagues examined how traditional masculine ideology (TMI) and a variety of factors influenced men’s intentions to seek therapy.

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christian counseling today VOL. 28 NO. 1