The impact of gender and age on referrals to psychological counseling.

Abstract

The authors studied whether the disproportionate number of female clients seen in counseling centers was due to referral patterns related to the gender of the referral recipient or the gender or age of the referral source. Faculty, staff, and students (N = 1,458) on 3 university campuses indicated their likelihood of referring a student to psychological counseling, for each of 6 problems presented in brief written vignettes. Only gender of the student presenting the problem was manipulated. Results indicated that men were less likely than women to refer at all 3 institutions. Older persons were more likely to refer at 2 institutions. At 1 institution, older persons were more apt to refer only when the recipient was a man. Gender of the referral recipient was not significant. The authors discuss the findings, indicate areas for further investigation, and make suggestions for college and university counseling centers.

Exploring the lives of Asian American men: Racial identity, male role norms, gender role conflict, and prejudicial attitudes.

“…Marquis, 2000;Nishioka, 1999). Thus, it should be of no real surprise that the current literature also recognizes that men tend not to seek counseling help (Lott et al, 1999;Robertson & Fitzgerald, 1992) bec. ause of masculine expectations for men to be strong and self-reliant (Barbee, et al, 1993).…”

Examining Gender Differences in Service Utilization among Children: Nature, Nurture, or Social Network?

“…Similarly, proponents of the social network perspective might argue that not 'nature' or 'nurture' but the social 'network' is instrumental in connecting children to services (Lott et al 1999;Pescolido and Levy 2002). Particularly, members of children's informal and formal social networks have significant influence over how children get connected to services (Baillargeon et al 2005;Cabiya et al 2006;Lott et al 1999;Settertobulte and Kolip 1997;Zwaanswijk et al 2007).…”

“…These 'gendered' scripts are framed within socially acceptable parameters for boys and girls. According to the social constructivist perspective the thoughts and actions of the central players of informal and formal networks (Brannon 2007) provide evidence to suggest that gender bias in how children may recognize and express their problems and help seeking behavior (Lott et al 1999).…”

“…In contrast, boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or other disruptive behavioral disorders (U.S. Public Health Services 1999;Zimmerman 2005). In addition, research suggests that girls are more likely to be referred to health or mental health services while boys are more often referred to the juvenile justice system, especially during adolescence (Kendall and Ness 1999;Lott et al 1999;MacDonald and Chesney-Lind 2001;Maschi et al 2009;Puzzanchera 2009).…”

“…Proponents of the social network perspective might argue that children are connected to services through an interconnected web of informal and formal helpers, caretakers, or significant others of which each of them have their own gender biased lens (Lott et al 1999;Michell and Smith 1981). Central 'helpers' in children's social networks include informal network members, such as family and friends, or more formal network members, such as school personnel, human service providers, law enforcement, court and other juvenile justice personnel (Lott et al 1999;Michell and Smith 1981;Settertobulte and Kolip 1997;Zwaanswijk et al 2007). According to this perspective, informal network members are a critical and sequential set of interconnected relationships to children's receipt of services (Pescolido and Levy 2002).…”