Pirkis Jane, Spittal Matthew J, Keogh Louise, Mousaferiadis Tass, Currier Dianne
Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017 Mar;52(3):319-327. doi: 10.1007/s00127-016-1324-2. Epub 2016 Dec 26.
Males feature prominently in suicide statistics, but relatively little work has been done to date to explore whether endorsement of dominant masculinity norms heightens the risk of or is protective against suicidal thinking. This paper aimed to further knowledge in this area.
We used baseline data from 13,884 men (aged 18-55) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men) cohort. These men filled in self-complete questionnaires in 2013/14 which covered a range of topics, including conformity to dominant masculinity norms and suicidal thinking. We conducted logistic regression analyses to estimate the strength of association between these two variables.
After controlling for other key predictors of suicidal thinking, one characteristic of dominant masculinity-self-reliance-stood out as a risk factor for suicidal thinking (AOR 1.33; 95% CI 1.25-1.42).
It suggests that one particular element of dominant masculinity-being self-reliant-may place men at increased risk of suicidal thinking. This finding resonates with current theories of how suicidal thinking develops and leads to action. It also has implications for the full gamut of suicide prevention approaches that target males in clinical settings and in the general population, and for our broader society. Further work is needed, however, to confirm the direction of the relationship between self-reliance and suicidality, and to unpack the means through which self-reliance may exert an influence.
男性在自杀统计数据中占显著比例，但迄今为止，针对男性对主导性男性气质规范的认同是否会增加自杀念头的风险或起到预防作用的研究相对较少。本文旨在增进这一领域的知识。
我们使用了澳大利亚男性健康纵向研究（“十到男人”队列）中13884名年龄在18至55岁之间男性的基线数据。这些男性在2013/14年填写了自填式问卷，问卷涵盖一系列主题，包括对主导性男性气质规范的遵从情况和自杀念头。我们进行了逻辑回归分析，以估计这两个变量之间的关联强度。
在控制了自杀念头的其他关键预测因素后，主导性男性气质的一个特征——自力更生——成为自杀念头的一个风险因素（比值比1.33；95%置信区间1.25 - 1.42）。
这表明主导性男性气质的一个特定要素——自力更生——可能会增加男性产生自杀念头的风险。这一发现与当前关于自杀念头如何发展并导致行动的理论相呼应。它也对临床环境和普通人群中针对男性的全方位自杀预防方法以及我们更广泛的社会具有启示意义。然而，需要进一步的研究来确认自力更生与自杀倾向之间关系的方向，并剖析自力更生可能发挥影响的方式。
