Study Shows Men Are Victims of Domestic Violence, Too

(CHICAGO) -- Domestic violence is common against men, though often under-reported, and may damage mental health, a new study shows.

In a survey of 420 men, 28.8% had been the victim of either physical or psychological abuse during their adult lifetime, Robert Reid, M.D, Ph.D., of the Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies, and colleagues reported in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"These findings tell us that the failure of personnel in judicial, law enforcement and healthcare to inquire about and acknowledge the male experience in [intimate partner violence] is failing men, fathers, second wives and children who are exposed to such abuse," says Jennifer Teschy, spokesperson for the Illinois Alliance for Parents and Children, a Chicago-based parent advocacy group.

Researchers conducted a telephone survey of 420 adult men (mean age 53.8, 86.1% white) who were insured by Group Health for at least three years, and were asked about past episodes of intimate partner violence using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.

A total of 18.4% of the participants reported being a victim of childhood physical or sexual abuse and 14.5% had witnessed intimate partner violence. Overall, 4.6% of the participants had been abused in the past year by an intimate partner and 10.4% had been a victim of violence in the past five years. Those younger than 55 were more likely than older men to have been abused in the past five years (14.2% versus 5.3%) and to have been subjected to physical violence at any time (8.8% versus 1.1%) (P<0.01>

"Acknowledging domestic violence against men and fathers is often considered taboo in nature, due to social pressure and 'political correctness' that is promulgated by the media and special interests to find them guilty of such abuse without trial or proper due process protections," says Teschy, who often fields calls from distraught men, second wives and grandparents who have witnessed such abuse by a vindictive ex-spouse or partner.

In the study, most of the men said they had been a victim of intimate partner violence more than once -- 68.1% for those reporting physical abuse and 92.4% for those who had been abused psychologically.

Physical violence generally lasted less than a year but psychological abuse persisted longer.

Among men younger than 55, 82% said they were a victim of non-physical abuse for a year or longer. The figure for older participants was 72.5%.

Those 55 and older who had been physically abused at any time had lower mean scores out of 100 for mental health (-5.86), vitality (-3.48), and a summary of the mental component of the assessment (-4.70) compared with older men who had not been a victim of physical abuse. These changes were statistically and clinically significant, Dr. Reid said.

Participants younger than 55 who had been abused had lower scores for social functioning whether the abuse had been physical (-2.53) or psychological (-2.51).

Older participants who had been abused physically were 2.8 times more likely to have depressive symptoms (prevalence ratio 2.80, 95% CI 1.23 to 6.34) and 3.14 times more likely to be severely depressed (PR 3.14, 95%
CI 1.06 to 9.32) than those who were not abused.

Older participants who were victims of non-physical abuse were 2.61 times more likely to have depressive symptoms (PR 2.61, 95% CI 1.28 to 5.34).

Intimate partner violence did not have any significant effects on physical health, in contrast to the effects on women.

The authors said that the results may not be generalizable to uninsured or more diverse populations. They also said the study had a low response rate and the small sample size precluded the assessment of a direct connection between abuse and health outcomes.

They also pointed out that "because the men were asked to remember events that may have occurred long ago, the findings may under-represent the occurrence of events in the distant past. As such, the estimates of lifetime prevalence may be biased downward for older men compared to younger men, and may explain the lower reported lifetime prevalence found for older men."

Teschy also points out that future research is needed to determine effectiveness of various interventions, stating that the study should not downplay abuse against either sex.

"Domestic violence is an equal-opportunity phenomena that does not discriminate on the basis of gender," says Teschy. "Policymakers in Springfield and elsewhere need to be informed as to the true nature of intimate partner violence coming from both sides--not just men against women, and create policy reforms that are gender-neutral."