Association of High Traditional Masculinity and Risk of Suicide Death: Secondary Analysis of the Add Health Study

Citation

Coleman, Daniel; Feigelman, William; & Rosen, Zohn (2020). Association of High Traditional Masculinity and Risk of Suicide Death: Secondary Analysis of the Add Health Study. JAMA Psychiatry. , PMCID: PMC7042936

Abstract

In the United States, men die by suicide at 3.5 times the rate of women. One driver of this gender disparity may be high traditional masculinity (HTM), a set of norms that includes competitiveness, emotional restriction, and aggression. Quantitative studies of HTM are interrelated with discourse on hegemonic masculinity. Using norm- and trait-based measures, HTM men were found to have higher suicidal ideation (SI), but to our knowledge, the association with suicide death has not been tested with a credible measure of HTM.Add Health is a nationally representative study of adolescents into adulthood. Feigelman and colleagues found 9 Add Health variables associated with suicide (Figure, A and B) and weak nonsignificant effects for depression and gun access. This study hypothesizes that HTM is associated with suicide, depression, gun access, and the 9 variables previously noted. No prediction was made for HTM regarding SI or suicide attempts.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.4702

Keyword(s)

suicide

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

JAMA Psychiatry

Author(s)

Coleman, Daniel
Feigelman, William
Rosen, Zohn

Year Published

2020

ISSN/ISBN

2168-622X

DOI

10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.4702

PMCID

PMC7042936

Reference ID

5939