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Abstract
Few counseling and psychological interventions are designed specifically to reduce mens health risk behaviors (Courtenay, 2011). Socialized identity processes contribute to relational, psychological, and behavioral health outcomes in both negative and positive ways Variables of positive masculinity (e.g., responsibility, leadership, generativity, stoicism, strength, and self-efficacy) are linked to health outcomes, which may explain gender-socialized patterns of behavior and their complex relationships to health (Bonhomme, 2007; Levant & Wimer, 2014). Self-compassion and self-efficacy play significant roles in health outcomes and positive health behaviors (e.g., Sirois, Kitner, & Hirsch, 2015), although few researchers have examined the impact traditional masculine gender role ideologies may have on these two constructs. Based on the Self-Regulation Resource Model (SRRM; Sirois, 2015), the present study examined self-efficacy and self-compassion as mediators that further explain how mens levels of gender role conflict may subsequently influence diabetes-related health outcome variables (e.g., diabetes self-management, diabetes distress, and glucose control) in a population of men with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.A quantitative, cross-sectional, survey study administered questionnaires to 146 men > 17 years of age diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes for > six months. Participants completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS), the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ), the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and a measure of HbA1C. Using the causal step approach (Baron & Kenny, 1986) and bias-corrected bootstrapping (Hayes, 2013), multiple regression analyses found that gender role conflict correlated with measures of diabetes self-care and diabetes distress and that self-compassion mediated the relationship between GRC and diabetes-related health outcomes. These results have clinical implications for treating the behavioral and psychological components of mens diabetes management, including fostering self-compassion and enhancing self-efficacy. A broader discourse within social contexts emerges for practitioners on how to balance accentuating the positive and functional aspects of masculinity, while deconstructing masculine role norms that demonstrate barriers to health management. Further research is necessary to support the causal inferences of this studys findings and to develop targeted diabetes-specific and pro-masculine health interventions for boys and men.