Roy Philippe, Tremblay Gilles, Robertson Steven, Houle Janie
1 Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2 Université Laval, Laval, Québec, Canada.
Am J Mens Health. 2017 Sep;11(5):1536-1546. doi: 10.1177/1557988315619677. Epub 2015 Dec 3.
Farming is often considered one of the most stressful occupations. At the same time, farming men symbolically represent a strong, traditional, or hegemonic form of masculinity based on stoicism, resourcefulness, and resilience to adversity. A contrast is observed between this social representation and their health status, marked by higher levels of stress, social isolation, psychological distress, and suicide than many other subgroups of men. A salutogenic approach was taken in this study to enable the investigation of the social contexts in which farming men positively engage in health-promoting behaviors that may prevent or ameliorate mental health problems. A focus was placed on how farming men cope with stress on their own, and the relationship of this to their popular image of being resourceful and resilient. Thirty-two individual in-depth interviews with farming men and a focus group with five key informants working in rural areas within the Province of Quebec, Canada, were carried out. Self-distraction and cognitive strategies emerged as the most relevant for participants. Notably, taking work breaks conflicted with the discourse of the "relentless worker" that farmers are expected to be. Pathways to positive coping and recovery implied an ambivalence between contemplation of strategies aligned with negative aspects of traditional masculinity norms in North America and strategies aligned with more positive, progressive aspects of these norms based on the importance of family and work life balance. Health promotion and future research should investigate how various positive masculine practices can be aligned with farmers' health and well-being and that of their family.
农业通常被认为是压力最大的职业之一。与此同时，从事农业的男性在象征意义上代表着一种基于坚忍、足智多谋和对逆境的适应能力的强大、传统或霸权形式的男子气概。在这种社会表征与其健康状况之间存在着一种反差，其特点是与许多其他男性亚群体相比，他们承受着更高水平的压力、社会孤立、心理困扰和自杀率。本研究采用了一种健康促进模式，以便调查农业男性积极参与可能预防或改善心理健康问题的健康促进行为的社会背景。重点关注农业男性如何独自应对压力，以及这与他们足智多谋和适应能力强的大众形象之间的关系。对加拿大魁北克省农村地区的32名农业男性进行了个人深度访谈，并与5名关键信息提供者进行了焦点小组访谈。自我分散注意力和认知策略对参与者来说最为重要。值得注意的是，休息与人们对农民应是“不懈劳动者”的说法相冲突。积极应对和恢复的途径意味着在思考与北美传统男性气质规范的消极方面相一致的策略和基于家庭与工作生活平衡的重要性而与这些规范的更积极、进步方面相一致的策略之间存在矛盾心理。健康促进及未来研究应调查各种积极的男性气质实践如何能够与农民及其家庭的健康和幸福相契合。
