PhD candidate: Alex Brae - evolutional psychology and men's health help seeking

The Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing is pleased to welcome new PhD candidate Alex Brae and congratulate him on being awarded a Commonwealth Research Training Award and a FCMHW top-up scholarship to support his studies.

Alex completed a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Honours) Degree in Psychology at Flinders University in 2018, achieving First Class Honours and a University Medal. Alex is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

With a passion for improving men’s mental health and wellbeing, Alex’s PhD is focusing on ways to improve health services to better meet the needs and preferences of men. Alex is using a signalling theory framework to investigate both how men express their health care needs and the response of healthcare providers with a particular focus on mental health professionals. “Only by examining these factors together can we achieve a complete understanding of male help-seeking behaviour,” Alex notes. Alex hopes that his research will generate recommendations that are more broadly focused on how help-seeking behaviour can be facilitated by all parties involved.

Alex has an interest in evolutionary psychology which is a theoretical approach to psychology that aims to explain how evolution has shaped the mind and behavior.

We wish Alex all the best for his PhD.

International Men's Day 2020 - Darwin: Panel focus on young men

On 19th of November, we celebrate International Men’s Day.

International Men’s Day is an annual global event that celebrates the diversity of men and the contributions they bring to their families, their communities and the world. A core focus of International Men’s Day is to highlight positive male role models and raise awareness of male health and wellbeing. The overarching theme of International Men’s Day this year is“Better health for men and boys”.

Jahdai Virona, Indigenous Trainee at the FCMHW NT Division at the Menzies School of Health Research, presented on “Understanding the needs of young men” as an invited panellist of the Youth Panel at the International Men’s Day Forum held in Darwin (19 Nov, 2020). The day long forum and networking event discussed the state of men's health and other issues relating to men in the Northern Territory.

Other speakers at the Forum included Professor Mick Dodson (Aboriginal Treaty Commissioner), Travis Garone (Movember) and Matthew Hull (MATES in Construction).

New centre ready for the future of men’s health research

The Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing (FCMHW) is set to launch in the Northern Territory (NT), setting up the next generation of male health research in Australia, with centres based in Darwin and Adelaide.

The research alliance involves Masonic Charities, Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies), the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, with the potential for other groups to join in future.

The partnership is dedicated to advancing the health and wellbeing of all Australian males and by extension their families and communities in which they live and work.

Masonic Charities, the charitable arm of Freemasons SA/NT is donating a minimum of $1.8 million over three years to the new centre, funds that will be matched collectively by the research alliance partners to support researchers and student scholarships and provide essential funding for projects.

Professor James Smith, Head of Menzies Alcohol, Other Drugs and Gambling Team and Father Frank Flynn Fellow (Harm Minimisation) has been appointed to direct the NT Division of the Centre at Menzies in Darwin.

Prof Smith said the funding from Masonic Charities will enable the FCMHW NT Division to work through its extensive research program over the next three years.

“We’re particularly keen to focus on Indigenous male health, boys and young men’s health, fathering and fatherhood, social and emotional wellbeing, as well as equity and action on the social determinants of health,” Prof Smith said.

“The development of community partnerships, involving both women and men, will be fundamental for achieving health gains for the families and communities of the NT. 

“The centre will empower Menzies to grow its influence and play a major part in helping to shape health policy and practice locally.

“The centre will considerably build research capacity across the NT, allowing our researchers to make significant contributions in these areas of need that will steer us towards becoming a healthier society.”

Director of the FCMHW SA Division, Professor Gary Wittert said there’s an ongoing need for a sex-specific approach to advance health globally and the centre will contribute significantly towards answering the call.

“More males die at every stage through the course of life, males have more accidents, take their own lives at a far greater rate and suffer from more lifestyle-related health conditions. We also see more men than women leave the work-force early due to chronic disease.

“We now know that this is not simply a case of men avoiding health care and behaving badly,” Prof Wittert said.

The FCMHW is the evolution of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health, established in 2007 through a partnership between the Freemasons Foundation and the University of Adelaide and maintained until 2019 by a $7.2 million dollar co-investment.

FCMHW researchers are recognised globally for their contributions to men’s health, particularly in the areas of prostate cancer, chronic disease, sexual and reproductive health, preventative health and health services.

The Grand Master of the Freemasons SA/NT, Dr Neil Jensen, said the new centre will take forward the foundation laid by its predecessor with an increased capacity to improve boys and men’s health due to a stronger, broader network.

“We started at a time when men’s health was not really spoken about. Men’s health is now in a far better place, and we’re very proud of what the centre has achieved over this time, but there’s still much work to be done,” Dr Jensen said.

The centre’s NT Division will be officially opened at Menzies Auditorium | John Mathews Building (Bldg 58), Royal Darwin Hospital Campus on Tuesday 10 November at 4:30pm, view map (Limited seating available).

For further information please contact:

Paul Dale Communications Manager Menzies School of Health Research M: 0439 108 754 E: communications@menzies.edu.au

Margaret McGee Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing M: 0420 958 403 E: margaret.mcgee@adelaide.edu.au

Callum MacPherson Media Officer SAHMRI and Masonic Charities M: 0419 607 905 E: callum.macpherson@sahmri.com

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