Rigid masculine norms and adolescent help-seeking: findings from a national school-based program in Australia
1
Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
2
The Man Cave, Brunswick, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Young men in Australia report strong societal pressures to conform to rigid masculine norms, including self-reliance and stoicism, that are key determinants of mental ill-health and reduced willingness to seek help.1 Schools can act as important spaces to engage young men in transformative explorations of masculinities and gender roles.2 Over the past decade, The Man Cave has worked with over 100,000 teenage boys across Australia through peer-led, school-based interventions that prioritise emotional development that supports an expansive definition of masculinity.
METHODS:
School participation in this study was authorised by the staff of participating schools. Student participants were only excluded if their guardian opted them out of the research. Participants completed baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys. Surveys included measures of personal endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms and confidence in seeking support from formal (professional) and informal (friends, adults, school staff) support services. Data from a baseline sample of 3,729 students and 136 linked follow-up responses were analysed.
RESULTS:
Participants had a mean age of 14 years (range = 12-17). At baseline, one-way ANOVAs indicated that confidence in seeking support differed across quintiles of endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms (all p < .001, small to moderate effects as per Cohen’s f). Largest pairwise differences in confidence were between Quintile 1 (least endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms) and Quintile 5 (most endorsement). Within the linked sample, a paired-samples t-test indicated a statistically significant (p = .012, Cohen’s d = 0.27) decrease in personal endorsement of masculine stereotypes from pre-program (M = 29.05) to follow-up (M = 27.30).
CONCLUSIONS:
Endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms was associated with lower confidence to seek both formal and informal support, with the greatest disparities between the lowest and highest quintiles. Findings suggest that school-based, peer-led interventions may deconstruct masculine stereotypes and strengthen help-seeking amongst adolescent boys.
Young men in Australia report strong societal pressures to conform to rigid masculine norms, including self-reliance and stoicism, that are key determinants of mental ill-health and reduced willingness to seek help.1 Schools can act as important spaces to engage young men in transformative explorations of masculinities and gender roles.2 Over the past decade, The Man Cave has worked with over 100,000 teenage boys across Australia through peer-led, school-based interventions that prioritise emotional development that supports an expansive definition of masculinity.
METHODS:
School participation in this study was authorised by the staff of participating schools. Student participants were only excluded if their guardian opted them out of the research. Participants completed baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys. Surveys included measures of personal endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms and confidence in seeking support from formal (professional) and informal (friends, adults, school staff) support services. Data from a baseline sample of 3,729 students and 136 linked follow-up responses were analysed.
RESULTS:
Participants had a mean age of 14 years (range = 12-17). At baseline, one-way ANOVAs indicated that confidence in seeking support differed across quintiles of endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms (all p < .001, small to moderate effects as per Cohen’s f). Largest pairwise differences in confidence were between Quintile 1 (least endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms) and Quintile 5 (most endorsement). Within the linked sample, a paired-samples t-test indicated a statistically significant (p = .012, Cohen’s d = 0.27) decrease in personal endorsement of masculine stereotypes from pre-program (M = 29.05) to follow-up (M = 27.30).
CONCLUSIONS:
Endorsement of stereotypical masculine norms was associated with lower confidence to seek both formal and informal support, with the greatest disparities between the lowest and highest quintiles. Findings suggest that school-based, peer-led interventions may deconstruct masculine stereotypes and strengthen help-seeking amongst adolescent boys.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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