Does help-seeking mediate the relationship between the masculine norm of self-reliance and suicidal thoughts among men?

This study aimed to explore the relationship between the masculine norm of self-reliance and suicidal thoughts among Australian men, hypothesising that lack of help-seeking might mediate the relationship between high self-reliance and the emergence of suicidal thoughts.

This study used data from on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health ‘Ten to Men’, a prospective longitudinal cohort study that began in 2013/2014 with boys and men aged 10–55 years (N = 16,021) at wave 1. The focus was on men who participated in waves 1 and 2 (2013/2014, 2015/2016) and had linked administrative data. A causal mediation analysis was conducted to quantify the total effect of self-reliance at wave 1 on suicidal thoughts at wave 2, and to investigate the extent of mediation by help-seeking between waves 1 and 2.

High self-reliance was associated with an increased odds of suicidal thoughts (OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.24–1.72). However, there was no significant mediating effect of a lack of help-seeking on the relationship between self-reliance and suicidal thoughts (OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.99–1.01).

Findings suggest that highly self-reliant men are at an increased risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts; however, this relationship is not explained by lack of help-seeking. Future studies could explore other potential mechanisms to better understand why highly self-reliant men are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts.