Psychology
Are “male depression” measures empirically distinct from externalizing dimensions? Testing incremental validity beyond disinhibition in a purposive community sample
Document Type
Article
Abstract
It is important to identify redundancy between assessment tools to avoid patient, provider, and researcher burden. Although gender-sensitive depression screeners for men appear outwardly similar to tools measuring externalizing problems (risk taking, substance use, etc.), this study found that they contribute unique data helpful for detecting men’s mental health problems. Overall, results indicated that “male depression” screeners are not redundant with tools assessing overlapping externalizing problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved) © 2026 American Psychological Association
Scales purported to measure a “masculine depression” presentation contain a high degree of content overlap with dimensional measures of externalizing psychopathology (i.e., disinhibition). No study to date has tested whether men’s externalizing depression (MED) scales are functionally different from well-established measures of externlizing dysfunction. In this study, we examined whether MED scales are helpful beyond disinhibition in explaining concurrent outcomes emphasized in the men’s depression literature (substance misuse, suicidal ideation, emotion suppression, interpersonal violence perpetration, help-seeking avoidance). We tested the incremental concurrent validity of two popular MED scales, the Male Depression Risk Scale and the Masculine Depression Scale, beyond two disinhibited externalizing scales, with and without controlling for prototypical depression symptoms. We recruited a community sample (N = 635) of adult, international, English-fluent men online via Prolific, oversampling for MED risk groups (Black American men, n = 163; middle-aged and older White men, n = 164). Incremental validity was also examined in a subsample with more “traditional” gender role ideology (n = 310), as MED is thought to be more prevalent in emotionally avoidant men. After controlling for conventional symptoms, MED scales explained significant and, in some cases, substantial variance in men’s mental health criteria. Increment size ranged from small to large depending on outcome, model parameters, and risk-group membership. Results suggested MED is not redundant with externalizing symptoms, conventionally defined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved) © 2026 American Psychological Association
Publication Title
Psychology of Men and Masculinity
Publication Date
2026
ISSN
1524-9220
DOI
10.1037/men0000549
Keywords
depression, externalizing, gender, masculinity, men
Repository Citation
Gazarian, Douglas and Addis, Michael, "Are “male depression” measures empirically distinct from externalizing dimensions? Testing incremental validity beyond disinhibition in a purposive community sample" (2026). Psychology. 986.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/986
