Men's Self-Reported Coping Strategies for Depression: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Key focal points of existing research on men's depression have included the role of masculinity and the nature of gender-specific coping styles. Existing quantitative studies may be limited in their ability to detect the full range of coping strategies deployed by men in response to this problem. The analysis of findings from qualitative studies may represent a useful way in which to obtain a more comprehensive representation of men's responses. To address this, a systematic review of qualitative studies examining the nature of men's coping and depression was undertaken. Electronic database and hand searching for published studies between 2000 and 2014 produced a total of 14 studies for synthesis from an initial pool of 1,446. A total of 323 participants with an age range of 19-75 years comprised the final sample, with studies taken from Canada, the US, U.K., Sweden and Finland. Reported coping strategies were grouped under 5 metathematic categories with "promote traditional masculinity," "promote flexible masculinity," and "social concealment and minimization" representing the most substantive coping domains. Findings suggest that an expanded view of men's coping strategies is appropriate within the context of depression. Review limitations, implications, and future research are discussed.