Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Jul;21(7):e13014.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13014. Epub 2020 Mar 17.

Impact of male-only lifestyle interventions on men's mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ryan J Drew  1   2 , Philip J Morgan  1   2 , Emma R Pollock  1   2 , Myles D Young  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Impact of male-only lifestyle interventions on men's mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ryan J Drew et al. Obes Rev. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Despite rising mental health problems worldwide, engaging men to seek mental health support is challenging. Male-only lifestyle interventions have shown promise for improving men's physical health, but the overall impact of these programs on psychological outcomes is unclear. This review aimed to evaluate the impact of male-only lifestyle interventions on men's mental health and to identify if any study or intervention features were associated with effectiveness. A systematic literature search with no date restrictions was conducted across four databases and returned 15 946 citations. Nine studies were eligible for inclusion, representing 1427 participants. Risk of bias was generally low across studies, although none were specifically powered to detect changes in mental health. Overall, significant group-by-time effects were reported for 26% of mental health outcomes examined. In the fixed-effects meta-analyses, small-to-medium intervention effects were observed for mental health-related quality of life (SMD = 0.24), self-esteem (SMD = 0.51), and positive affect (SMD = 0.58). Insights into effective study or intervention features were limited because of the low number of heterogeneous studies. Although male-only lifestyle interventions have improved men's mental health in some circumstances, studies that are specifically powered to detect long-term changes are urgently required, particularly in groups with pre-existing mental health concerns.

Keywords: diet; lifestyle behaviour change; physical activity; well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Vos T, Barber RM, Bell B, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet. 2015;386(9995):743-800.
    1. Bloom D, Cafiero E, Abrahams-Gessel S, Bloom L, Fathima S, Feigl A. The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases: A Report by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health, September 2011. Paper presented at: Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum 2011.
    1. Harris B, Duggan M, Batterham P, et al. Australia's Mental and Physical Health Tracker. Australian Health Policy Collaboration: Melbourne; 2018.
    1. McNamara K, Knight A, Livingston M, et al. Targets and indicators for chronic disease prevention in Australia. Australian Health Policy Collaboration Papers. 2015;x.
    1. Allison DB, Newcomer JW, Dunn AL, et al. Obesity among those with mental disorders: a National Institute of Mental Health meeting report. Am J Prev Med. 2009;36(4):341-350.

Publication types