It’s raining men: descriptive results for engaging men with eating disorders in a specialized male assessment and treatment track (MATT)
Abstract
Purpose Men with eating disorders are not well understood and there is a need for innovative methods for engaging men in specialized outpatient assessment and treatment. We examined data collected over a 4-year period to explore whether the addition of a designated track for men at a hospital-based adult eating disorders program influenced the number of referrals or treatment engagement. Methods During assessment and treatment as usual (ATAU; September 2013-August 2015), 283 referrals were received (275 women, 8 men), with 3 men engaging in assessment and treatment (M age = 36 years, SD = 14.18). After instatement of a male assessment and treatment track (MATT; September 2015-August 2017), 320 referrals were received (300 women, 20 men), with 14 men engaging in the specialized assessment and treatment (M age = 28.21 years, SD = 8.04). Both groups of men completed measures of demographic characteristics, life satisfaction, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and eating disorder symptoms. Results Significantly more referrals for men, but not women, were received after the instatement of the MATT (i.e., a 250% increase). More men also engaged in specialized assessment and treatment after the instatement of the MATT (i.e., a 467% increase in engagement). Conclusions The current study describes the number of referrals and the number of men who engaged in treatment before and after the instatement of a specialized treatment track for men. The results suggest that the addition of the MATT helped to increase the number of men referred and promoted their engagement in recommended care. Level of evidence V retrospective descriptive study.
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The "emotional social support" BCT was observed in two studies using CBT and MI and two pilot RCTs adapting MI to be gender sensitive.
“This BCT was observed in two studies using CBT and MI (MacNeil et al., 2018; Pal et al., 2007) and two pilot RCTs adapting MI to be gender sensitive (Syzdek et al., 2014, 2016).”
From Improving Mental Health Service Utilization Among Men: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Behavior Change Techniques Within Interventions Targeting Help-Seeking (2019) · cites this paper as MacNeil et al., 2018
Only three studies utilized a measure of practical help-seeking.
“Furthermore, only three studies utilized a measure of practical help-seeking (MacNeil et al, 2018; McFall et al., 2000; Syzdek et al., 2016), which also highlights the lack of research using practical help-seeking as an outcome measure.”
From Improving Mental Health Service Utilization Among Men: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Behavior Change Techniques Within Interventions Targeting Help-Seeking (2019) · cites this paper as MacNeil et al, 2018
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Self-citation
- Authors
- MacNeil, B. A., Hudson, C. C., & Leung, P.
- Affiliations
- George Mason University (US)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- MacNeil, Brad A.
- Venue
- Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity
- Published
- 2018-10-10
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 817-824
- ISSN
- 1124-4909 (ISSN-L)
- 1590-1262
- OpenAlex
- W2897199420
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia Bulimia and Obesity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Keywords
- eating disorders in men, treatment engagement, referral rates, life satisfaction, anxiety and depression, eating disorder symptoms
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Humans, Male, Psychotherapy, Group, Young Adult, Social Stigma
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