Treatment-seeking differences for mental health problems in male- and non-male-dominated occupations: evidence from the HILDA cohort

Milner, Allison; Scovelle, Anna J; King, Tania

doi:10.1017/s2045796018000367

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(40 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Another possible explanation concerns the expressed norms and cultural factors within an occupational group, including attitudes toward treatment seeking. As mentioned above, recent research 9 suggests that men in male‐dominated occupations are also much less likely to seek treatment compared to non‐male‐dominated occupations. There is also research suggesting that males in male‐dominated occupations are more likely to endorse male gender norms such as self‐reliance 35 and stigma in relation to mental health problems, which have been shown to be risk factors for suicide 36 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The gendered nature of an occupation may also influence behaviours related to mental health and suicide. A recent study has shown that males who are employed in male‐dominated occupations (where there are a greater number of men employed comparative to women) are much less likely to seek help from a mental health professional, even after considering other individual and structural factors 9 . A past review has documented poor health and lifestyles, unsupportive workplace relationships, job overload and job demands as risk factors for mental health problems in male‐dominated occupations 10 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent study has shown that males who are employed in male-dominated occupations (where there are a greater number of men employed comparative to women) are much less likely to seek help from a mental health professional, even after considering other individual and structural factors. 9 A past review has documented poor health and lifestyles, unsupportive workplace relationships, job overload and job demands as risk factors for mental health problems in male-dominated occupations. 10 Accompanying this, there is evidence that those employed in male-dominated occupations such as construction, forestry and agriculture have higher rates of suicide than the general employment population.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Men’s work, women’s work and suicide: a retrospective mortality study in Australia

Milner

King

2019

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: This research sought to investigate the influence of being a in male‐dominated occupation on suicide. Methods: A population‐level retrospective mortality study was conducted over the period 2001 to 2015. Data from the Australian Census and the National Coronial Information System were combined. Negative binomial regression was used to assess the relationship between occupational gender ratio and suicide rates, controlling for age, socioeconomic status and year of death. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis accounted for unmeasured confounding due to common mental disorders. Results: Males in male‐dominated occupations had a rate ratio (RR) of 7.50 (95%CI 6.07 to 9.25) compared to males in female‐dominated occupations. Females in male‐dominated occupations had a RR of 0.13 (95%CI 0.07 to 0.26) compared to females in female‐dominated occupations. Results for males were maintained after adjusting for common mental disorders. There was evidence of interaction on both additive and multiplicative scales. Conclusions: The gendered context of an occupation influences suicide, with varying risks for women and men. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms of this relationship. Implications for public health: These results suggest the need for targeted suicide prevention activities in male‐dominated occupational groups.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Men’s work, women’s work and suicide: a retrospective mortality study in Australia

Milner

King

2019

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Confounders included gender (male or female), age (16–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–44, 45–54 and 55–64 years), education (<year 12 [high school], high school, diploma or certificate, bachelors degree, postgraduate), household structure (couple without children, couple with children, lone parent with children, lone person and other), country of birth (Australia, English speaking, other country) and weekly household income (equalivised) in quintiles. Previous research we have conducted suggests that occupational gender ratio (eg, the proportion of males to females employed in an occupation) is a predictor of treatment for a mental health problem 30. Other research also suggests differences in psychosocial working conditions by occupational gender ratio 31.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Do psychosocial job stressors influence mental health service use? Evidence from an Australian cohort

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectivesThere is strong evidence of a relationship between psychosocial job stressors and mental health at the population level. There has been no longitudinal research on whether the experience of job stressors is also associated with greater mental health service use. We seek to fill this gap.MethodsThe Household Income Labour Dynamics in Australia survey cohort was used to assess the relationship between exposure to self-reported psychosocial job quality and reporting attendance at a mental health professional during the past 12 months. We adjusted for time-varying and time-invariant confounders. The study was conducted in 2009 and 2013.ResultsIn the random effects logistic regression model, increasing exposure to psychosocial job stressors was associated with an increased odds of mental health service use after adjustment (one stressor: OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.56; two stressors: OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.73; three stressors: OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.57). However, once the between person effects were controlled in a fixed effects model, the within-person association between change in job stressors and change in mental health service use was estimated to be close to zero and not significant.ConclusionsMore work is needed to understand the relationship between job stressors and service use. However, when taken with past findings on job stressors and mental health, these findings highlight the importance of considering policy and clinical practice responses to adverse working contexts.

show abstract

“…Men who are working in male-dominated occupations may bring with them a unique set of risk factors that predispose them to poorer health literacy, including factors related to aspects of masculinity (e.g., the importance of emotional control and self-reliance) and other factors relating to childhood experiences (Bröder et al, 2017), employment history, education, and cultural factors (Rowlands et al, 2015). Occupationally embedded gender norms may contribute to men's poorer health literacy by discouraging engagement with health providers (Milner, King, et al, 2018a;Milner, Scovelle, et al, 2018b) and through expressed norms and behaviors at work. Such effects may be particularly pronounced in the most heavily maledominated occupational groups, which may be exposed to masculine norms and behaviors that emphasize the importance of self-reliance, stoicism, and risky health behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Literacy in Male-Dominated Occupations

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Low levels of health literacy are associated with poorer health outcomes. Both individual- and social-level factors have been identified as predictors of low health literacy, and men are known to have lower health literacy than women. Previous research has reported that men working in male-dominated occupations are at higher risk of accidents, injury, and suicide than other population groups, yet no study to date has examined the effect of gendered occupational contexts on men’s health literacy. The current article examined the association between occupational gender ratio and health literacy among Australian males. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men) was used to examine associations between occupational gender ratio (measured in Wave 1) and health literacy (measured in Wave 2) across three subscales of the Health Literacy Questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used and showed that the more male dominated an occupational group became, the lower the scores of health literacy were. Results for the different subscales of health literacy for the most male-dominated occupational group, compared to the non-male-dominated group were: ability to find good health information, (Coef. −0.80, 95% CI [−1.05, −0.54], p < .001); ability to actively engage with health-care providers, (Coef. −0.35, 95% CI [−0.62, −0.07], p = .013); and feeling understood and supported by health-care providers, (Coef. −0.48, 95% CI [−0.71, −0.26], p = < .001). The results suggest the need for workplace interventions to address occupation-level factors as an influence on health literacy among Australian men, particularly among the most male-dominated occupational groups.

show abstract

Treatment-seeking differences for mental health problems in male- and non-male-dominated occupations: evidence from the HILDA cohort

Abstract: Results suggest that male-dominated occupations may negatively influence help-seeking among males. There is a need for more research to understand this relationship and for workplace-based prevention initiatives.

Cited by 18 publications

References 30 publications

Men’s work, women’s work and suicide: a retrospective mortality study in Australia

Men’s work, women’s work and suicide: a retrospective mortality study in Australia

Do psychosocial job stressors influence mental health service use? Evidence from an Australian cohort

Health Literacy in Male-Dominated Occupations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About