This systematic literature review was undertaken to identify and review studies examining mental health interventions within male-dominated industries. Due to the small number of papers (k=5) and heterogeneity of measures to assess outcomes, a meta-analytic review was not possible; a narrative systematic review was therefore reported. Outcome measures only looked at mental health in the clinical sense. Therefore studies which included wellbeing and health measures were excluded from the review.  The results from the study indicated that effective strategies to address anxiety and depression among workers in male-dominated industries include the distribution of information to workers about mental health issues, providing additional social support, offering access to treatment and advice for workers, education for managers about mental health in the workplace, and specifically targeting intervention at groups at high risk for absenteeism. It was also said that working conditions and the workplace can have a significant impact on a worker's mental health. Work-related factors including working conditions, job demands and social support in the workplace are particularly important for the mental health workers.

This literature review examined the intersection between masculinities and men’s workplace health and safety in high risk industries, which typically are considered male-dominated  (e.g. construction, mining, oil refinery, firefighting and the military). 96 papers were reviewed and four major themes emerged from the analysis; The celebration of heroism, physical strength, toughness and stoicism; acceptance and normalisation of risk; acceptance and normalisation of work injuries and pain; displays of self-resilience. 

In response to these themes, main recommendations included identifying situations where hyper-masculine behaviours can reinforce risky practices and increase the potential for injury or illness; exploring how social relations at the workplace and existing organizational structures and hierarchies can reinforce specific behaviours; examining how health and safety issues are negotiated in the workplace and how such negotiations may be influenced by gendered social processes; and encouraging and supporting more diverse displays of masculinity, not just dominant or hegemonic ones.  

The purpose of this review was to examine the effectiveness of mental health promotion programs in males, and evaluate the integration of gender-specific influences in the content and delivery of men’s mental health promotion programs. This paper included 25 papers in total (9 of which were workplace-specific).  An overarching finding from the 9 studies which focused on the workplace was that interventions which involved both sexes seemed to be more effective for females (in terms of mental health outcomes).  For instance, one study which focused on  mental health and well-being, reported that men's perceived effort-reward imbalance (a measure of workplace stress) increased over time, whereas, availability of workplace health promotion was associated with higher perceptions of reward among women in the study. The authors suggested that program effectiveness for women was tied in part to availability and sense of organisational support whereas timing of implementation during an economic downturn may have been a contributing factor to lower effectiveness measures for men, with job insecurity potentially more concerning than workplace wellness. Another study carried out in manufacturing was aimed at employees modifying their own work environment. This paper reported significant improvements in job satisfaction and psychological distress among women but not men (the authors suggested that males were less likely to participate in planning the workshops). 

Another overarching finding was that mental health promotion programs that were designed to influence individual behaviour seemed to have more impact than those which were designed to create organisational change.  

This study investigated the effects of a 6-months yoga practice on memory and psychophysiological parameters related to stress in an all male, Brazilian military sample. The researchers compared yoga practice and conventional physical exercises in healthy men (previously yoga-naïve). In summary, the results of the study indicated that a 6-month period of regular yoga practice by healthy male volunteers reduced the parameters related to stress, depression and anxiety, as well as improving performance in a recognition memory task. Importantly, the effects of the practice did not seem to be merely related to physical practice, as all participants underwent regular sessions of conventional physical exercise. Furthermore, the practitioners were previously yoga-naïve, not culturally predisposed to practice it, and did not search for this kind of practice in order to obtain a therapeutic effect. These features, according to the authors, minimised (although did not abolish) the possibility that the results were due to a placebo effect.

This study was designed to examine the  long-term effects of a stress management intervention (SMI) based on the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model, on psychological and biological reactions to work stress in a German male management population. The programme comprised 24x45 min group sessions (2 full days followed by two 4x45 min sessions within the next 8 months) on individual work stress situation.  It used psychodynamic, conflict and emotion-focused principles, but also included cognitive behavioural techniques. The programme was specifically designed (1) to foster awareness of and insight into stress situations in the workplace and (2) to provide tools to better deal with typical stressful situations such as work overload, social conflicts, problems with social evaluation and failure at work. In addition, identifying and strengthening individual resources, for example social networking and social support between the participants, was encouraged. Stress levels appeared to have reduced significantly at 1-year follow-up. Other measures of depression, anxiety and ERI showed a tendency towards improvement (albeit not statistically significant).

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of brief therapy as offered by Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) in the UK; by exploring changes in coping strategies in response to stress following therapy. 6 coping strategies were assessed: Rational actions (e.g. adopting a strategy of rational actions to solve the

problem), Palliative response (e.g. displacement activities like taking up a hobby), Social response (e.g. reaching out to a colleague or friend for help), Depressive response (e.g. internalising or 'bottling up' problems), Emotive response (e.g. suppression of emotion) and Passive response (e.g. taking to drink). There was a sex difference in the mean scores for clinically significant and reliable change, with men showing improvements in the short term (pre- to post-treatment), but women showing improvements in the long term (at 6-months follow-up). With regards to coping behaviours, both males and females had means of 'Social support' as a coping strategy which were significantly higher than baseline, at stage 3 and final stage 4 of counselling. For the variables Depressive, Emotive & Passive responses, the mean for the males had improved to stage 3 both ad fallen back again by stage 4, suggesting that the males had trouble holding onto the benefits they had gained rom the therapy, whereas females generally continued to improve from stages 3 to stages 4.  

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of an improvement of psychosocial working conditions measured by the Effort–Reward (E–R) Imbalance model within 2 years following an SMI, and mental health 7 years later. The sample used was 97 German male industrial workers The intervention was based on the ERI model and was designed to enhance participants’ ability to identify and cope with typical stressors in their working environment, as well as seek and enhance resources in their surrounding. 23 Participants took part in a 2-day training, followed by a half-day booster session after 4 and 6 months, respectively. An improvement in E–R ratio following an SMI, was significantly associated with lower anxiety and depression 7 years later. 

This study examined the effectiveness of training designed to increase support toward military personnel with mental health problems. The training took place in 10 different sessions, each session lasting approximately 2 hours. The objectives were to encourage soldiers to be more supportive of fellow soldiers getting mental health treatment by

understanding: The common symptoms of mental health concerns and when a problem

needs to be addressed; the benefits of getting help for mental health problems; the barriers and facilitators of treatment seeking (including those that result from the actions

of fellow unit members); what happens during treatment and providing accurate information about the use of medication; how unit climate can affect a soldier’s decision to seek help, and actions peers can take to help fellow soldiers get help. Results revealed that soldiers in the training condition reported an increase in supportive behaviours toward soldiers with mental health problems three months following the training, whereas there was no increase in soldiers assigned to the control group. Soldiers in the training condition were also marginally more likely to increase their own treatment seeking in the three months following the training.

The objective of this case study was to test the impact in law enforcement personnel of an innovative self-regulation and resilience building program delivered via an app and personal mentoring. The Stress Resilience Training System (SRTS) intervention included an initial 2-hr training session, 6 weeks of individual access to the SRTS app (including information on stress, heart rate variability biofeedback, and self-regulation techniques embedded in a game-based format), and four, 1-hr telephone coaching sessions over a 4-week period. Emotional vitality was significantly increased pre-to-post intervention,

and physical stress significantly decreased. Open-ended feedback revealed that the participants were transferring the skills learned in the app to real-life.

This study examined whether a 6-month work-sharing programme influenced the psychosocial work environment and depressive symptoms encountered by Japanese employees, and to determine which psychosocial factors predicted employees’ mental health during an economic recession. Despite there being significant reductions in employee working hours, job demands and job strain, and there being a significant increase in job control; depressive scores did not change significantly over the 6 month period. Logistic regression analyses showed that low social support between the two surveys was associated with depressive symptoms at T2 after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, workplace factors, scheduled working hours and depressive symptoms at T1. The authors concluded that Reductions in job strain did not affect employees’ depressive symptoms. Employees with low social support during the study had a significantly higher risk of having depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that social and emotional support within the workplace is important during the work-sharing period.

This study explored the gendered views of men and workplace representatives in male dominated industries about workplace mental health promotion. Consultations with working men (N  23) and interviews with seven representatives from male-dominated industries in northern British Columbia, Canada were conducted. Findings highlight the impact of masculine workplace cultures on men’s mental health and practices that limit men’s disclosures about vulnerabilities, as well as discussions about promoting mental health. Within such milieus a healthy mind was viewed as vital for workplace safety. Participant recommendations focused on reducing stigma, promoting enjoyable activities, and creating sustainable efforts toward building social cohesion. Overall, efforts to promote mental health in male-dominated industries should be tailored for the unique needs of men and should include paid time to engage in wellness activities and positive strategies that facilitate group comradery. Given male-dominated workplaces in

particular constitute unique contexts where adherence to masculine ideals is normed, the findings hold potential for advancing mental health promotion programs designed to reach men. 

This study investigated the effects of an organisational intervention using the MHACL on reducing job stressors and the psychological distress of workers of a manufacturing enterprise in Japan with a controlled study design. The intervention had several stages:

1) The research team developed a workplace stress profile for each department . This was then communicated to the head of department to help motivate them to improve the work environment; 2) The team invited the whole department to a planning workshop using the MHACL (Mental Health Action Checklist for a Better Workplace Environment) - it covers psychosocial and non-psychosocial work environments, both which may cause psychosocial stress or distress among workers; 3) Carrying out planning workshops; 4) Follow-up. Among women, skill underutilisation, supervisor and co-worker support, psychological distress and job satisfaction changed more favourably in the intervention group than in the control group. No significant favourable effect of the program was observed among men. The analysis showed that the degree of worker participation and implementation of planned actions heavily influenced the intervention effect. The authors suggested that males were less likely to participate in planning workshops. On the contrary, women were more likely to participate in the planning workshops and were more likely  to be members of departments with a high implementation ratio of action plans.