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UNB researchers receive funding to continue studying the effects of cumulative lifetime violence in men

Author: UNB Newsroom

Posted on Sep 15, 2021

Category: UNB Fredericton , UNB Saint John

Little research has been done to understand the ways violence and other social determinants of health directly link to health issues in men over time, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

To further understand this phenomenon, researchers from the University of New Brunswick have received $776,476 in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to continue exploring how cumulative lifetime violence (CLV) affects men’s physical and mental health.

The five-year research grant was awarded to a multi-campus team of UNB researchers who will be co-led by Drs. Kelly Scott-Storey (BN '99, MN '07, PhD '13) and Sue O’Donnell (BN '02, MN '09, PhD '14), both associate professors in the faculty of nursing on the Fredericton campus.

The research team will also include Dr. Petrea Taylor, assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at UNB’s Moncton site, Dr. David Busolo, assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at UNB’s Moncton site, Dr. Enrico DiTommaso, professor in the department of psychology on UNB’s Saint John campus, and Dr. Judy Wuest, professor emerita in the faculty of nursing on UNB’s Fredericton campus.

“We are extremely grateful for the support given to our team by the Canadian Institute of Health Research,” says Dr. Scott-Storey. “This research will address a major public health issue in Canada, interpersonal violence. By understanding how experience as a target and/or a perpetrator of violence is associated with health over time, it will help us to provide trauma-and-violence informed approaches to assessment and intervention with men.”

Researchers will be conducting an online survey with a national sample of 1,400 English-speaking men to find out how violence experienced in their lives from childhood through adulthood has affected their current state of health. Social factors such as gender, income, food security and education will also be considered and evaluated in this research.

“Examining the way lifetime violence impacts men is a critical part of the solution toward understanding and addressing the overall issue of violence in society,” says Dr. O’Donnell. “Building on our previous research, we are generating new knowledge that can help us understand the way violence is uniquely experienced in men’s lives.”

The outcomes of this research will help develop new evidence and ways of measuring CLV to develop programs and policies that will assist men most at-risk for violence-related health problems.

Media contact: Kathleen McLaughlin

Photo: Dr. Kelly Scott-Storey and Dr. Sue O’Donnell. Credit: Keith Minchin/UNB