This article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Barriers to Help Seeking Scale (BHSS). The measure was designed to assess reasons men identify for not seeking professional help for mental and physical health problems. Exploratory factor analyses in a sample of 537 undergraduate men revealed a 5-factor solution of internally consistent subscales, including Need for Control and Self-Reliance, Minimizing Problem and Resignation, Concrete Barriers and Distrust of Caregivers, Privacy, and Emotional Control. A separate study of 58 undergraduate men confirmed the reliability of the scale and provided evidence of convergent and criterion validity between the BHSS and measures of masculine gender-role conflict and attitudes toward seeking professional help. Research has documented that men seek help less often than women for a variety of problems in living, including cocaine use, alcohol use, psychiatric illness, and physical problems
Despite its ambiguous status in both scientific and lay discussions of gender, the construct of masculinity has achieved a place of virtual hegemony within research and practice in the psychology of men. We argue that "masculinity" as it is currently conceptualized obscures the contingent and contextual effects of gendered social learning in men. The result is a substantive limit on prediction and influence in the scientific domain, and the risk of perpetuating essentialist discourse about gender in the public domain. Beginning with a pragmatic and functional view of theory development and research in the social sciences, we identify the eradication of gender inequality and the promotion of human well-being as core values in the psychology of men. We then show how a return to basic principles of learning can open up new ways of understanding the special case of gendered social learning in men, and also promote a social discourse in the public domain that is consistent with the core values of the field. Is "Masculinity" a Problem?: Framing the Effects of Gendered Social Learning in Men To accept the contingency of starting-points is to accept our inheritance from, and our conversation with, our fellow-humans as our only source of guidance. To attempt to evade this contingency is to hope to become a properly-programmed machine. Richard Rorty Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination. Ludwig Wittgenstein The title of this article poses a provocative triple entendre. At first glance, it is possible to answer the question, "Is masculinity a problem?", without calling into question the nature of the construct itself. Whether masculinity is conceptualized as a social role, a set of personality traits, or a conglomerate of evolved genetic mechanisms, this version of the question asks about its social consequences, good, bad, or otherwise. On second glance, it is also possible to ask what is wrong with the construct of masculinity from a more theoretical point of view. Here the question is less about tangible social consequences of a thing called masculinity, and more about the utility of different ways of conceptualizing gender for the progress of psychology and the social sciences more broadly. Finally, it is possible to ask what are the consequences for society of developing and disseminating constructs such as "masculinity" to account for gendered processes in the social world. 1 Here the focus is less on the theoretical or
OBJECTIVE -To evaluate self-report and parent proxy report of child/teen general quality of life in youth with type 1 diabetes, compare their responses with those of a general pediatric population, and identify relationships between diabetes management, diabetes-related family behavior, and diabetes-specific family conflict with quality of life in youth with type 1 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -Study participants included 100 children, 8 -17 years of age (12.1 Ϯ 2.3), with type 1 diabetes for 0.5-6 years (2.7 Ϯ 1.6). Each child and a parent completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), completed the Diabetes Family Conflict Scale, and provided data on parent involvement in diabetes management. An independent measure of adherence to treatment assessed by the patient's clinician and a measure of glycemic control (HbA 1c ) were also collected.RESULTS -PedsQL responses from youth with type 1 diabetes were stable over 1 year and similar to norms from a healthy standardization sample for all three scales of the PedsQL: total, physical, and psychosocial quality of life. After controlling for age, duration of diabetes, sex, HbA 1c , and family involvement, child report of diabetes-specific family conflict (P Ͻ 0.01) was the only significant predictor of child report of quality of life (model R 2 ϭ 0.21, P Ͻ 0.02).CONCLUSIONS -Youth with type 1 diabetes report remarkably similar quality of life to a nondiabetic youth population. Greater endorsement of diabetes-specific family conflict predicted diminished quality of life for the child. As treatment programs focus on intensifying glycemic control in youth with type 1 diabetes, interventions should include efforts to reduce diabetes-specific family conflict in order to preserve the child's overall quality of life.
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