Treatment seeking by employment characteristics among Australian males: a longitudinal study from the Ten to Men...

Men are less likely to seek treatment for mental health problems than women; however, the structural employment-related factors influencing this relationship are unknown.

This is a prospective cohort study.

Using the Australian Ten to Men cohort (N = 6447), we examined the relationship between being in a male-dominated occupation and treatment seeking from a mental health professional compared to being in a gender-equal occupation. Models were fit using logistic regression.

There was some evidence of a stepwise gradient between male-dominated occupations and treatment seeking for mental health problems. However, results were only significant for the most male-dominated occupations after adjustment (odds ratio [OR] 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52 to 0.94, P = 0.017). We also found evidence that individuals who more strongly adhered to masculine norms had a lower likelihood of treatment seeking (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.95 to 0.99, P = 0.004).

This supports the idea that occupational-related factors influence male treatment seeking for mental health problems.