The impact of pain and depression on health-related quality of life (QoL) is widely investigated, yet the pain-depression interactions on QoL remain unclear. This study aims to examine the pain-depression-QoL mediation link. Pain severity were assessed in a sample of Chinese professional teachers (n = 385). The subjects were also assessed on depressive symptoms and QoL. Regression models were fitted to evaluate the pain-depression-QoL relationships. About 44% of the sample had 3-5 painful areas in the past 3 months. Shoulder pain (60%) and headache (53%) were common painful areas. The results of regression analyses showed that pain mediated the effects of depression on the mental aspect of QoL (standardized beta = -0.111; Sobel test: z = -3.124, p < 0.005) whereas depression mediated the effects of pain on the physical aspect of QoL (standardized beta = -0.026; Sobel test: z = -4.045, p < 0.001). Our study offered tentative evidence that pain and depression impacted differently on the mental and physical aspect of QoL. As these findings were based on a Chinese teacher sample, future studies should employ more representative samples across cultures to verify the present data.

Male victimization in intimate partner abuse situations has long been a neglected phenomenon in academic research and is rarely mentioned in social service provision. The abused male is often absent from the overall picture, such that intimate partner abuse against males remains an invisible occurrence. This is in part due to the reluctance of society to support them, because men are culturally perceived to be masculine and strong. The factors that facilitate or prevent their disclosure are worthy of study because in doing so, could provide a better understanding of how their help-seeking behavior contributes to service planning for both men and women in conflict. This study, therefore, focuses on the individual, organizational and cultural factors that facilitate or prevent the disclosure of intimate partner abuse when experienced by men in a Chinese context. Three general areas have been identified from a literature review: namely, the attribution of the victimization experiences, professional encounters, and cultural conception of masculinity. Eight male survivors have voluntarily participated and recruited through purposive snowball sampling. In-depth interviews are used to obtain the qualitative data. After conducting a thematic analysis, six themes are identified, which are: the perceived uniqueness of the victimization; perceived severity of the victimization; perceived sincerity of the helping professionals; professional actions; ‘macho competence’; and ‘macho protection.’ In conclusion, suggestions are made on how the study findings contribute to developing gender sensitive practices for helping professionals, especially social workers and counsellors, when they work with male survivors of intimate partner abuse.

This qualitative study addressed the intersectionality between masculine grief and gender role expectations during the grief process among men. The sample comprised 10 Chinese men in Hong Kong who had lost their wife or child to suicide. The study found that the “men in grief” phenomenon comprised three themes: making sense of hidden grief, processing grief-related guilt, and removing the stigma of masculine grieving. Future research on the masculine grieving process can focus on the association between perceived weaknesses and expected help-seeking behaviors in men who experience multiple losses after a suicide death in the family.

The aim of this study was to identify the implications of masculinity for male sexual abuse survivors. To address the lack of research on male sexual abuse survivors, this study focuses on the trauma sustained by male survivors and the interplay of the cultural concept of masculinity. Given the sensitive nature of this topic and to protect the respondents, a three-phase methodological design was used. Initial observation of the participants in the treatment groups was followed by fieldwork involving focus groups and, eventually, in-depth individual interviews. This study’s implications for social workers helping male sexual abuse survivors are discussed through the lens of masculinity.

Despite growing consideration of the needs of research participants in studies related to sensitive issues, discussions of alternative ways to design sensitive research are scarce. Structured as an exchange between two researchers who used different approaches in their studies with childhood sexual abuse survivors, in this article, we seek to advance understanding of methodological and ethical issues in designing sensitive research. The first perspective, which is termed protective, promotes the gradual progression of participants from a treatment phase into a research phase, with the ongoing presence of a researcher and a social worker in both phases. In the second perspective, which is termed minimalist, we argue for clear boundaries between research and treatment processes, limiting the responsibility of researchers to ensuring that professional support is available to participants who experience emotional difficulties. Following rebuttals, lessons are drawn for ethical balancing between methodological rigor and the needs of participants.