This study drew upon the knowledge base of member practitioners of the American Psychological Association (APA) to develop a taxonomy of helpful and harmful practices for treatment with boys and men. Four hundred seventy-five APA-member practitioners solicited from practice-related divisions provided responses to 4 open-ended questions about helpful and harmful practices in working with boys and men. Ten themes emerged from qualitative analyses. Beneficial and sensitive practices included addressing gender socialization and gender-sensitive issues as they apply to boys and men in psychological practice. Harmful practices included biased practices, stereotypes, and a lack of awareness and training around gender and diversity issues as they apply to boys and men. We discuss the specific themes that emerged from analysis of the responses, how these findings are situated within previous work examining helpful and harmful practices, limitations to the study, suggestions for research, and implications for training psychologists.

This study examined the relationship between social support (Social Provisions Scale) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale) in a sample of male firefighters in a midwestern community (N ϭ 53). The authors assessed 5 types of perceived support from 2 sources: peer firefighters and supervisors. Results indicate that reassurance of worth and social integration support from supervisors had the strongest negative association with stress. The study critically examined the "unidirectional linear" assumption that a unit increase in support corresponds to a unit increase in adjustment throughout the full range of support scores. Reassurance of worth support from peers exhibited a curvilinear pattern of threshold effects. For individuals with the lowest levels of support, there was a strong negative association between perceived support and stress, but for firefighters above the median, the association was not significant.

This study is the first to examine relations of emotion dysregulation, masculine norms, and abuse perpetration among men referred for domestic assault. Experiences of 108 men participating in batter intervention programs from 3 different cities were examined. Results suggest that intimate partner abuse, emotion dysregulation, and the specific masculine norms of dominance, emotional control, and self-reliance are associated. Multiple-regression analysis indicated that emotion dysregulation and the masculine norm of dominance accounted for about 25% of the variance in reported abuse. In addition, the masculine norms of emotional control and self-reliance were significantly associated with emotion dysregulation. These findings suggest that men who reported experiencing affect that was difficult for them to manage are more likely to abuse their partners and also tend to believe that men should not share their emotions or ask for help.

This study extends empirical data regarding the social constructionist perspective of gender roles by exploring cross-cultural differences in masculine role norms. An additional aim was to test for relations between adherence to particular norms and aspects of psychological well-being. In a sample of 152 Italian male students, participants endorsed less traditional views toward 9 of the 11 masculine norms of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory and reported significantly less conformity than comparable American students. Only the playboy norm received greater endorsement by Italian respondents in this sample. In addition, although male students residing in southern Italy reported greater conformity than their central Italian counterparts, they still endorsed a less traditional stance toward masculine norms than male students in the United States. The masculine norms of emotional control and self-reliance were negatively correlated with positive relations with others. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This consensual qualitative research (CQR) study explores factors contributing to the persistence of African-American gay and bisexual men at a predominately White institution (PWI). Eight participants consistently noted that involvement with an African-American community was crucial to navigating the challenges of attending a PWI. Participants reported that their racial identity was more salient than their sexual orientation in creating social support, and they described feeling uncomfortable using lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) resources. Implications, including education about sexual orientation within African-American campus communities, LGBT outreach to communities of color, and continued institutional support for African-American campus organizations, are discussed.