Improving Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Male University Students

A Series of Gender-Sensitive Mental Health Feasibility Interventions

Bibliographic Data

ID21748831
AuthorsIlyas Sagar-Ouriaghli (0000-0002-3014-3104, King's College London, corresponding author), Emma Godfrey (0000-0001-8995-9653, King's College London), Vinay Tailor (King's College London), June S L Brown (0000-0002-0479-8166, King's College London)
Year2023
Volume17
Issue3
Pages15579883231163728-15579883231163728
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Men s Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1557-9883 • E-ISSN: 1557-9891
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/15579883231163728
PMID37269097
OpenAlexW4379197713
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited76

One-third of students experience a mental health condition associated with decreased academic functioning and increased risk of dropping out. While mental health difficulties are lower among male students, they are twice as likely to die by suicide. Although the importance of gender-sensitive interventions for male students has been emphasized, feasible and effective approaches are unexplored. This investigation conducted three gender-sensitive feasibility interventions for male students to evaluate acceptability, changes to help-seeking and mental health outcomes. Three interventions were delivered to 24 male students. The interventions included the following: Intervention 1—a formal intervention targeting male students, Intervention 2—a formal intervention that adopted gender-sensitive language and promoted positive masculine traits, and Intervention 3—an informal drop-in offering a social space providing health information. These were evaluated for acceptability, attitudes to help-seeking, and mental health outcomes. All interventions were equally acceptable. The informal drop-in was more acceptable, having better engagement from male students who have greater conformity to maladaptive masculine traits, more negative attitudes to help-seeking, higher levels of self-stigma, who were less likely to have used mental health support before and belonged to an ethnic minority. These findings indicate differences in acceptability, particularly uptake, for hard-to-engage male students. Informal strategies help reach male students who would otherwise not engage with mental health support, familiarize them with help-seeking, and connect them with pre-existing mental health interventions. More work needs to be carried out using larger samples to investigate the efficacy of informal interventions to engage male students

Ethnic group · Help-seeking · Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Adolescent and Pediatric Healthcare · Clinical Psychology · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Sex and Gender in Healthcare

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