Psychology

A pilot trial of gender-based motivational interviewing for help-seeking and internalizing symptoms in men

Document Type

Article

Abstract

There has been limited research on interventions that address the psychosocial barriers to men's underutilization of formal and informal help. To address this gap in the literature, the authors report on the development of gender-based motivational interviewing (GBMI) for men with internalizing symptoms and present the findings of a pilot trial. GBMI is a single session of assessment and feedback that integrates gender-based and motivational interviewing principles. Community-dwelling men (N = 23) with elevated internalizing symptoms and no recent history of formal help seeking were randomized to either GBMI or control conditions and were followed for 3 months. The effect of GBMI on internalizing and externalizing symptoms ranged from small to large across follow-ups. GBMI had a small-tomoderate effect on stigma. There was no effect on help-seeking attitudes or intentions. GBMI increased use of informal help seeking (e.g., parents and partners) and had no effect on formal help seeking. None of these findings were statistically significant. Study weaknesses included baseline differences in help-seeking variables between conditions. This initial evaluation suggested that GBMI shows promise for improving mental health functioning while further research is need to determine its effect on help seeking. © 2013 American Psychological Association.

Publication Title

Psychology of Men and Masculinity

Publication Date

2014

Volume

15

Issue

1

First Page

90

Last Page

94

ISSN

1524-9220

DOI

10.1037/a0030950

Keywords

anxiety, depression, gender, help seeking, internalizing symptoms, motivational interviewing, stigma

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