Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-246sw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-22T19:48:58.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Improving mental health practice with boys and men: core challenges and guidance for clinicians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2025

Sérgio A. Carvalho Open the ORCID record for Sérgio A. Carvalho [Opens in a new window]  and
Carlos Carona Open the ORCID record for Carlos Carona [Opens in a new window]
Sérgio A. Carvalho
Affiliation:
Clinical and health psychologist, early career researcher and invited assistant professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the, University of Coimbra (Portugal),specialising in contextual-behavioural approaches to chronicillness and in socially minoritised individuals.
Carlos Carona*
Affiliation:
An invited assistant professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (Portugal)and an academic researcher in the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention at the same university. He is also a clinical psychologist with an advanced specialty in psychotherapy(mainly working with male psychopathology) and lectures in the fields of cognitive-behavioural interventions, complex mental healthcare needs and research methods.
*
Correspondence Carlos Carona. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Regardless of any socially held perceptions of privilege or power differentials, boys and men present unique developmental vulnerabilities and disproportionate rates of specific mental health problems, such as disruptive behaviour disorders, substance misuse and completed suicide. Moreover, men are less likely than women to seek help for psychological distress and adhere less well to treatments. In this brief article, some of the unique mental health problems experienced by boys and men are reviewed within a developmental perspective and general clinical guidance is outlined to improve adherence and treatment outcomes.

Keywords

Mental healthmengendermasculinity
Type
Refreshment
Information
BJPsych Advances , First View , pp. 1 - 3
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahmed, O, Walsh, EI, Dawel, A, et al (2024) Social media use, mental health and sleep: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Journal of Affective Disorders, 367: 701–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychological Association (2018) APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. APA.Google Scholar
Berke, DS, Reidy, D, Zeichner, A (2018) Masculinity, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: a critical review and integrated model. Clinical Psychology Review, 66: 106–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bilsker, D, Fogarty, AS, Wakefield, MA (2018) Critical issues in men’s mental health. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63: 590–96.Google ScholarPubMed
Bingham, B, Gray, M, Sun, T, Viau, V (2011) Postnatal blockade of androgen receptors or aromatase impair the expression of stress hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis habituation in adult male rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36: 249–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosson, JK, Vandello, JA, Burnaford, RM, et al (2009) Precarious manhood and displays of physical aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35: 623–34.Google ScholarPubMed
Botto, M, Gottzén, L (2024) Swallowing and spitting out the red pill: young men, vulnerability, and radicalization pathways in the manosphere. Journal of Gender Studies, 33: 596–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, RL, Lumia, AR, McGinnis, MY (2012) Androgen receptors, sex behavior, and aggression. Neuroendocrinology, 96: 131–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nolen-Hoeksema, S, Hilt, L (2006) Possible contributors to the gender differences in alcohol use and problems. Journal of General Psychology, 133: 357–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otten, D, Tibubos, AN, Schomerus, G, et al (2021) Similarities and differences of mental health in women and men: a systematic review of findings in three large German cohorts. Frontiers in Public Health, 9: 553071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riehm, KE, Feder, KA, Tormohlen, KN, et al (2019) Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA Psychiatry, 76: 1266–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Schore, AN (2017) All our sons: the developmental neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of boys at risk. Infant Mental Health Journal, 38: 15–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sparks, B, Zidenberg, AM, Olver, ME (2024) One is the loneliest number: involuntary celibacy (incel), mental health, and loneliness. Current Psychology, 43: 392–406.Google Scholar
Whittle, EL, Fogarty, AS, Tugendrajch, S, et al (2015) Men, depression, and coping: are we on the right path? Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16: 426–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.