Heath Patrick J, Brenner Rachel E, Vogel David L, Lannin Daniel G, Strass Haley A
Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
Department of Psychology, Illinois State University.
J Couns Psychol. 2017 Jan;64(1):94-103. doi: 10.1037/cou0000185.
Less than 1/3 of college men seek psychological help per year when experiencing mental health concerns. Many believe this is because socialized masculine norms are incongruent with help-seeking decisions. In line with this, adherence to masculine norms, like emotional control and self-reliance, is consistently linked to factors associated with lower use of counseling. Identifying constructs that buffer, or reduce, the relationship between masculine norm adherence and common barriers to seeking help, like help-seeking self-stigma and resistance to self-disclosing, could shed light on mechanisms through which effective interventions could be developed. As such, this study examined whether self-compassion, or the ability to show oneself kindness and understanding in the face of challenges, moderated the relationship between masculine norm adherence and both help-seeking self-stigma and the risks associated with self-disclosing to a counselor in a sample of 284 undergraduate men (Mage = 19.68, range = 18-30). Results indicate that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of help-seeking self-stigma and disclosure risks. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, self-compassion buffered the relationship between overall masculine norm adherence and each of these barriers. Furthermore, when specific masculine norms were examined, self-compassion buffered the relationship between emotional control and disclosure risks. These results support the need for future research focused on the development and assessment of self-compassion based interventions aimed at decreasing the barriers undergraduate men experience toward seeking psychological help. (PsycINFO Database Record
每年有不到三分之一的大学男生在遇到心理健康问题时寻求心理帮助。许多人认为，这是因为社会化的男性规范与寻求帮助的决定不一致。与此一致的是，坚持男性规范，如情绪控制和自力更生，始终与咨询使用较少相关的因素联系在一起。识别能够缓冲或减少坚持男性规范与寻求帮助的常见障碍（如寻求帮助的自我污名化和抗拒自我表露）之间关系的构念，可能会揭示有效干预措施得以制定的机制。因此，本研究在284名本科男生样本（年龄中位数=19.68，范围=18 - 30岁）中，考察了自我同情，即面对挑战时对自己展现善意和理解的能力，是否调节了坚持男性规范与寻求帮助的自我污名化以及向咨询师自我表露相关风险之间的关系。结果表明，自我同情与较低水平的寻求帮助的自我污名化和表露风险相关。此外，也许更重要的是，自我同情缓冲了总体男性规范坚持与这些障碍中的每一个之间的关系。此外，当考察特定的男性规范时，自我同情缓冲了情绪控制与表露风险之间的关系。这些结果支持了未来研究的必要性，该研究应聚焦于基于自我同情的干预措施的开发和评估，旨在减少本科男生在寻求心理帮助时所面临的障碍。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》
