Citation

Van Doorn G, Teese R, Gill PR. Pers. Individ. Dif. 2021; 179: e110899.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.paid.2021.110899

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is associated with several freedoms and opportunities, but is also a period of increased risk for several physical and mental health conditions. This study assessed the association between adherence to traditional masculine norms at baseline and incident depression and incident depressive symptoms at follow-up in a national sample of Australian emerging adult men (18-29 years). We performed binary logistic regressions based on two waves of data from a national longitudinal survey, Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health. The sample comprised 2170 emerging adult men who completed both the Wave 1 (2013-2014) and Wave 2 (2015-2016) surveys.

RESULTS indicated that adhering to multidimensional hegemonic masculine norms at baseline did not confer risk for developing either incident Major Depression or incident depressive symptoms at follow-up, except for adhering to 'playboy' (e.g., desire for multiple sexual partners). These findings conflict with previous reports showing that hegemonic masculinity is associated with depression and depressive symptoms, and suggest that the assumption that adhering to traditional masculine norms places men at greater risk for depression should be questioned, at least during the emerging adult stage of the lifespan.

Language: en

Keywords

Depression; Emerging adulthood; Epidemiology; Hegemonic masculinity; Men's mental health