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Background: Despite disproportionate rates of mental ill-health compared with non-Indigenous populations, few programs have been tailored to the unique health, social, and cultural needs and preferences of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. This paper describes the process of culturally adapting the US-based Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project to suit the needs, preferences, culture, and circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged 16–25 years in the Northern Territory, Australia. YBMen is an evidence-based social media-based education and support program designed to promote mental health, expand understandings of gender and cultural identities, and enhance social support in college-aged Black men. Methods: Our adaptation followed an Extended Stages of Cultural Adaptation model. First, we established a rationale for adaptation that included assessing the appropriateness of YBMen's core components for the target population. We then investigated important and appropriate models to underpin the adapted program and conducted a non-linear, iterative process of gathering information from key sources, including young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, to inform program curriculum and delivery. Results: To maintain program fidelity, we retained the core curriculum components of mental health, healthy masculinities, and social connection and kept the small cohort, private social media group delivery but developed two models: 'online only' (the original online delivery format) and 'hybrid in-person/online' (combining online delivery with weekly in-person group sessions). Adaptations made included using an overarching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing framework and socio-cultural strengths-based approach; inclusion of modules on health and wellbeing, positive Indigenous masculinities, and respectful relationships; use of Indigenous designs and colours; and prominent placement of images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male sportspeople, musicians, activists, and local role models. Conclusions: This process resulted in a culturally responsive mental health, masculinities, and social support health promotion program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. Next steps will involve pilot testing to investigate the adapted program's acceptability and feasibility and inform further refinement. Keywords: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous, Australia, male, cultural adaptation, social media, mental health, masculinities, social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are substances that can facilitate muscle growth and development. They are of appeal to a variety of individuals, including competitive athletes and persons dissatisfied with their body image-especially gay men. In this qualitative study, 16 elite gay male athletes from the United States, Canada and Australia were interviewed regarding their opinions of AAS, masculinity, homosexuality, and sport, among other issues. The athletes expressed a general dislike of AAS, asserting the substances were un-masculine, un-natural, un-healthy, and un-sportsmanlike. Despite these reservations concerning AAS, the athletes described their own use of other ergogenic substances. A contradiction thus exists between the athletes' reasons for not using AAS and the athletes' reasons for using other substances. These findings are used to critique and nuance contemporary theory in body image research, masculinity, and sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study investigated the relationship between body image and clothing, as expressed by 16 elite level gay male athletes from the United States, Canada, and Australia. The athletes suggested that within gay social settings, clothes serve as a means to gauge other men's personalities and relative wealth, and as a means to display one's body. Clothes were viewed as being a functional accessory to assist sporting performance, regardless of the appearance of that attire. However, within aesthetic sports, the function of clothing may be to look good, so as to earn high marks from judges. Finally, the athletes suggested that cultural expectations of masculinity may negate the need for stylish clothing, and that masculinity often requires men to wear muted clothing styles. These findings indicate that clothing should be considered as a factor that influences body image, and that not all sub-groups of gay men may consider clothing or body image in an identical manner. Future implications for body image and sexualities research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Murder-suicide (M-S) is a complex phenomenon that can involve a multifaceted set of interrelated biological and social factors. M-S is also sexed and gendered in that the perpetrators are most often male and their underpinning motives and actions link to masculinities in an array of diverse ways. With the overarching goal to describe connections between men, masculinities, and M-S, 296 newspaper articles describing 45 North American M-S cases were analyzed. The inductively derived findings revealed three themes: (a) domestic desperation, (b) workplace justice, and (c) school retaliation. Cases in the domestic desperation theme were characterized by the murder of a family member(s) and were often underpinned by men's self-perceptions of failing to provide economic security. Workplace justice cases emerged from men's grievances around paid-work, job insecurity, and perceptions of being bullied and/or marginalized by coworkers or supervisors. The school retaliation cases were strongly linked to "pay back" against individuals and/or society for the hardships endured by M-S perpetrators. Prevailing across the three themes was men's loss of control in their lives, hopelessness, and marginalized masculine identities. Also evident were men's alignments to hegemonic masculinities in reasserting one's masculine self by protesting the perceived marginalization invoked on them. Overall, the findings give pause to consider the need for men-centered M-S prevention strategies to quell the catastrophic impacts of this long-standing but understudied men's health issue., (© The Author(s) 2014.)