Congratulations to the Centre’s 2022 Honours students on their scholarship awards and we wish them all the best for their research and training
Validation of the Male Depression Risk Scale short form in a cross-sectional study of Australian men. Herreen D, Rice S, Zajac I. Brief assessment of male depression in clinical care:BMJ Open. 2022 Mar 28;12(3):e053650. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053650.
Contact: Dr Ian Zajac
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Centre is highlighting some of the fantastic women of men’s health that have been supported by the Centre and are achieving great work in the field. FCMHW encourages and commends the involvement of women in men’s health and hopes to further support it in the future.
Level playing field: young males, masculinity and mental wellbeing through sport.
Drummond, M., Wadham, B., Prichard, I. et al. BMC Public Health 22, 756 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13200-1.
Contact: Murray Drummond
Expendable young males.
Drummond M. Sport, Education and Society. 2021. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2021.1992610
Contact: Murray Drummond
Implications of critical race theory for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men's health.
Merlino A, Canuto K, Smith JA. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Jun;9(6):e756. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00100-5.
PMID: 34019832
Contact: Kootsy Canuto
A thematic analysis of men's help-seeking on an Australian health helpline
Lopriore S, Turnbull D, Martin SA. Health Promot J Austr. 2021 Jan 19. doi: 10.1002/hpja.458.
Contact: Sean Martin
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
