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The Impact of Political Violence on Mild Psychiatric Morbidity in Northern Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ed Cairns  and
Ronnie Wilson
Ed Cairns*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, New University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Ronnie Wilson
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, New University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland
*
∗Correspondence
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Summary

Evidence concerning the impact of the violence in Northern Ireland on psychiatric morbidity is limited to studies examining admission rates and psychotropic drug prescribing rates; their results varied from suggesting no effect to indicating that greater levels of violence are actually equated with higher levels of mental health. The present study is the first to use a community sample, in which respondents (797) from two towns, which have experienced contrasting levels of violence over the last ten years, completed the 30-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and also indicated their perception of the level of violence in their area and how safe they felt this was to live in. Those who lived in the more violent town scored higher on the GHQ, as did women compared to men and those who perceived that their area had experienced more violence. There was also a two-way interaction, such that the small number of people, who perceived much violence in their area and who also lived in the more violent town, scored more highly on the GHQ. It is possible that the majority of people in Northern Ireland deal effectively with stress generated by the political violence, but do so by denying the existence of this violence around them.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 145 , Issue 6 , December 1984 , pp. 631 - 635
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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