Effects of Gender, Diagnostic Labels, and Causal Theories on Willingness to Report Symptoms of Depression

A prospective study of the impact of child maltreatment and friend support on psychological distress trajectory: From adolescence to emerging adulthood

“…Because boys may show more externalized manifestations of distress than girls (Leadbeater et al, 1999;Marcotte et al, 2001), our results may underestimate males' level of distress. Men may also be more reticent than women to report psychological distress under certain conditions (see e.g., Berger et al, 2012). Altogether, it may partly explain girls' elevated rates of psychological distress in ours and other studies and…”

Gender differences in first self‐perceived signs and symptoms in patients with an at‐risk mental state and first‐episode psychosis

“…According to a recent review by Gerretsen et al (2014) insight into schizophrenia is especially impaired in first-episode patients, while it is still mostly intact in the premorbid phase. Furthermore, men and women may differ in their symptom awareness, their illness insight and their willingness and ability to report specific symptoms (Berger, Addis, Reilly, Syzdek, & Green, 2012;Riecher-Rössler, 2010). Thus, it is possible that the few observed differences are at least partly due to reporting bias.…”

Men’s reactions to mental health labels, forms of help-seeking, and sources of help-seeking advice.

“…Most notably, overall adherence to masculine norms was associated with a less positive response to a doctor who suggests that the individual seek help by taking medication. Once again, men may be less likely to follow the advice of their doctor who uses a biological rationale and a medical form of treatment, and this may be particularly true for men who adhere to masculine norms (Berger et al, 2012).…”

“…Magovcevic and Addis (2005) found that men with greater adherence to masculine norms experience more stigma toward the term depression. Furthermore, some men have been found to be more reluctant to self-report symptoms of depression when the depressive symptoms are attributed to causes beyond one's control, such as biological factors and extemal life events, and these explanation are often used in professional mental healtii settings (Berger, Addis, Reilly, Syzdek, & Green, 2012). Likewise, the label anxiety may also threaten men's sense of invulnerability and masculine strength and contribute to their reluctance to pursue treatment.…”