The Mental Health Effects of Cumulative Lifetime Violence in Men: Disruptions in the Capacity to Connect with Others and Finding Ways to Reengage

Petrea Lea Taylor,Jeannie Malcom,Judith Wuest,Charlene Vincent,Kelly Scott-Storey,Susanne O’Donnell

doi:10.1177/23333936211021576

Petrea Lea Taylor, Jeannie Malcom + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/23333936211021576

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Abstract

We report qualitative findings of our Men’s Violence Gender and Health Study, a multiple method study using a sequential design in which we explored the mental health manifestations of cumulative lifetime violence in men. Survey results revealed that higher cumulative lifetime violence scores were significantly associated with higher scores on depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety in a community sample of men (n = 685) living in Eastern Canada. To obtain a deeper understanding of men’s scores, we used an interpretive description approach to analyze data derived from 32 participant interviews. The main mental health manifestation of cumulative lifetime violence is perceptual interference, a sense of being disconnected or detached from others. This is managed by rectifying detachment, a process that includes efforts to gain connections with others. Findings suggest mental health needs in men with cumulative lifetime violence contradict gender role expectations to be stoic. Implications for nurses are explored.

Highlights

In the recent launch of a special initiative to reduce mental health disparities, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared, “There can be no health or sustainable development without mental health” (WHO, 2019, p. 1)
Perceptual interference exists within a context of social norms and gender role expectations to be a “real man” by being emotionally strong and independent, pressures that contradict men’s need for close attachments with others in the wake of cumulative lifetime violence (CLV)
An inductive qualitative approach allowed for a deeper contextual understanding of how men perceive the intersections of mental health and CLV severity, adding meaning to the significant correlations found in the full Men’s Violence Gender and Health Study (MVGHS) sample

Summary

Introduction

In the recent launch of a special initiative to reduce mental health disparities, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared, “There can be no health or sustainable development without mental health” (WHO, 2019, p. 1). Mental health problems, anxiety and mood disorders, are more prevalent among Canadian women than men; in comparison to women, men are three times more likely to report substance use disorder and three times more likely to die by suicide (Khan, 2017; Statistics Canada, 2019). This unique pattern of mental health, and the discrepancy between lower rates of depression and higher rates of suicide, are indicators of a silent crisis in men’s mental health (Affleck et al, 2018). Research in this field, has been limited to examining one or two types of violence at distinct points in the lifespan among either targets or perpetrators and has disregarded the cumulative effects of violence on health (Scott-Storey, 2011)

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