Dr Sean Martin appointed as Project Lead for the Ten to Men Study

The Centre is pleased to congratulate Dr Sean Martin (FCMHW Post-doctoral Research Fellow) on his appointment as the Project Lead for the Ten to Men (TTM) Study based at the Australian Institute of Family Studies (https://aifs.gov.au/projects/ten-to-men).

The TTM study is funded by the Commonwealth Government and is a key deliverable of the National Men’s Health Strategy.

With over 16,000 participants aged 10-55 years at recruitment the TTM study is the largest male-only cohort study in the world.

It focuses on key social, economic, environmental and behavioural factors that influence the development of boys into men. Within government, it also has a core responsibility to report on, and develop new policies, that influence the length and quality of life of Australian males.

Dr Martin has been a member of the Centre since its inception in 2007, and has been the Manager of the Centre’s Florey Adelaide Male Ageing cohort Study (FAMAS) which turns 20 years this year. FAMAS was harmonised with another cohort to create the MAILES (Men Androgen Inflammation Lifestyle Environment and Stress) study, and is one of the most comprehensive and longest-running biomedical longitudinal cohort studies of male health and wellbeing in Australia, based in the FCMHW at the University of Adelaide and SAHMRI.

Dr Martin will continue his affiliation with the Centre as an academic titleholder of the University of Adelaide.

Sean will start this new exciting position in Feb 2022. He may be contacted at Sean.Martin@aifs.gov.au.

Time to rethink the link between testosterone and masculinity

New research by the Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing has shown the public perception that ‘too much testosterone’ increases stereotypical masculine traits in men might not be true at all.

The Australian-first study analysed testosterone levels of more than 500 men aged 35 and older and assessed their self-perceptions of masculinity through a questionnaire that rated six different indicators of masculinity.

Research leader and endocrinologist, Professor Gary Wittert, said the results showed no relationship between testosterone and masculinity.

“Masculinity traditionally tends to be characterised by traits such as toughness, emotional control, physical strength, competitiveness and sexual competency,” Professor Wittert said.

“The six areas of self-perceived masculinity evaluated in this study were physical strength, optimism, sexuality, self-reliability, family responsibility and ability to take action. We found there was no link between the participants’ self-perceptions of these traits and their testosterone concentration.”

Professor Wittert said the study clearly showed that psychosocial factors and physical disorders are the variants underpinning self-perceived masculinity.

“The key factors negatively impacting scores included a history of anxiety, being without a partner and most significantly living with moderate to severe erectile dysfunction,” he said.

Men with bigger waistlines and varying levels of erectile dysfunction were less confident sexually and less optimistic, while males with partners viewed themselves as physically stronger and more responsible than those who had been widowed or divorced.

“The notion that typical traits of masculinity are linked to testosterone and are risk factors for poor health no longer stand up to scrutiny,” Prof Wittert said.

“Accumulating evidence suggests that aspects of typical masculinity might be associated with better health and health outcomes for men,” Prof Wittert said.

Enquiries to: Professor Gary Wittert

Key reference: Peel, A., Martin, S., Vincent, A., Turnbull, D., Wang, X., McGee, M., Jesudason, D., Chambers, S., & Wittert, G. (2020). Relationship between Testosterone and Self-Perceived Masculinity in an Australian Cohort of Community-Dwelling Men. Journal of Men’s Health, 16(4), e28-e44. https://doi.org/10.31083/jomh.v16i4.252

Grant to examine mental health pre and post COVID-19

Professor Robert Adams (affiliate), Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, and Professor  Gary Wittert, Dr Tiffany Gill and Professor Catherine Hill from the University of Adelaide, and Professor Malcolm Battersby, Head of Psychiatry at Flinders University, have been awarded a Hospital Research Foundation grant for $50,000 to define how measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have altered the trajectory of mental health and well-being of middle-aged and elderly South Australians.

The study, which will begin shortly, will be undertaken by interviewing participants of two longitudinal population cohort studies, the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study coordinated by the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health and the North West Adelaide Health Study, coordinated by the Population Research Outcomes Studies Unit which works in close partnership with the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health.

See the Hospital Research Foundation announcement here

https://www.hospitalresearch.com.au/news/latest-stories/mental-health-insights-pre-and-post-covid-19