Religious Affiliation and Help-Seeking Among Men: The Moderating Influence of Social Support

 Background/Purpose: This study examined how social support interacts with religious affiliation to increase or decrease help-seeking barriers in men. Studies have consistently found that men underutilize formal mental health services. Although men experience mental health issues at rates similar to women, they get help for these issues at much lower rates. Research pertaining to religious affiliation and specifically men’s help seeking behaviors has gone nearly unobserved. While religion can provide social support, positive health behaviors, and coping strategies for individuals, many religious adherents may have traditional attitudes about gender. Our study addresses this gap in the literature by considering how religious identity and social support may work together to influence help-seeking attitudes and behaviors in men.

Methods: Participant data was gathered from the Men’s Mental Health and Well-Being Survey (MHWS), a quota sample of 1,000 men, aged 18 and older, living in the United States. This sample matches estimates from the American Community Survey on the racial/ethnic composition, educational attainment, and age composition of non-institutionalized men in the United States. The key dependent variable is the Barriers to Help Seeking Scale (α= 0.87). The key independent variables were a categorical variable for religious affiliation and social support, as measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (α= 0.83).  Control variables included current depressive symptoms (CES-D 20), anxiety symptoms (Beck Anxiety Scale), adherence to masculine norms, educational attainment, relationship status, income, age, racial/ethnic identity, and employment status. 

Results:  Religious affiliation was significantly associated with help-seeking behaviors, with Protestant men exhibiting high levels of help-seeking barriers, when compared to Catholics (b=1.827, p<.01). Social support was negatively associated with help-seeking barriers  (b= -.779, p<.05). An interactive model showed that social support had no effect on help-seeking barriers for individuals who identified with a religious group (Catholic, Protestant, or Other religious affiliation). However, social support was significantly and negatively associated with help-seeking barriers for men who did not identify with a religious group (-0.21, p<.05). The results suggest that social support reduces barriers for individuals who may not otherwise receive it through religious organizations, but has little effect on those men who identify as religious.

Significant control variables (p<0.05) included anxiety, perceived stigma, self-stigma, masculine norms and education (GED, some college, and college graduate). As each of these variables increased, our data showed that help-seeking barriers also increased. 

Conclusions/Implications These findings suggest the need for a greater consideration of religious affiliation when striving to understand how to improve men’s help-seeking behaviors. Health providers, clinicians, agencies and religious organizations can use the results of this study to appropriately and more successfully provide care or resources to their clients and congregations. Non-religious individuals may be specifically vulnerable and are in particular need of social support. Future research should utilize and expand upon the significant findings in our study, particularly to determine the direct or moderating relationship between religion and men’s mental health, education, and social support.