To better understand men's reluctance to seek help for mental health issues, we investigated the contributions of depression, stigma, and masculinity on help-seeking likelihood in a sample of depressed men. Two-hundred and fifty-eight men, who screened positive for depression on the PHQ-2, completed measures assessing self-stigma, self-reliance, emotional control, and general help-seeking likelihood via an online Qualtrics survey. Path analysis using MPlus tested one model of moderated mediation and two mediation models among the variables. Results supported a partial mediation model where (a) self-reliance, emotional control, and self-stigma directly related to lower likelihood of help-seeking, (b) self-reliance and emotional control predicted greater self-stigma, (c) depression predicted greater self-reliance and emotional control, (d) self-reliance and emotional control had indirect effects on help-seeking being partially mediated by self-stigma, and (e) depression had significant indirect effects on both help-seeking and stigma, being fully mediated by self-reliance and emotional control. We discuss the need to develop practices and interventions that address self-stigma's contribution to men's help-seeking through the complex relationships between depression and men's self-stigma as mediated by self-reliance and emotional control. Limitations to the study and future research directions are discussed.
Public Significance StatementDepression is costly in both human suffering and the hundreds of billions of dollars it costs the U.S. annually. Although treatment for depression is effective, men are less likely to seek help. The goal of this study was to better understand the complex relationships among masculinity, self-stigma, and depression as they explain help-seeking intentions in men who screened positive for depression. Our findings suggest the importance of psychologists addressing men's gendered reactions to their depression and how those gendered reactions contribute to self-stigma and less likelihood to seek help.