Background to the Research

• Recent comparisons of mental health status in NI and other parts of the British Isles show that levels of psychiatric morbidity are higher in NI than in these other regions.
• The Troubles are believed to have played a significant role in this variation and in order to test this idea, this study explores the effects of the Troubles on the mental health of the general population in NI.
  

Research Approach

• The data were drawn from the Northern Ireland Health and Wellbeing Survey 1997 and focused on 1,694 respondents aged between 16-64 years who completed the supplementary GHQ12 survey.
• Data were analysed using SPSS.
  

Main Findings

• In this study, 21.3% (361) respondents stated the Troubles had either had 'quite a bit' or 'a lot' of impact on their lives or the lives of their families and 25.5% (418) reported a similar impact on their area of residence.
• Nearly 49% of respondents had a GHQ12 score of 3 or more (showing significant psychological morbidity). Women and those who were widowed, separated or divorced recorded higher GHQ12 scores.
• There was a graded relation between the extent to which people and areas were affected by the Troubles and the likelihood of suffering from significant mental health problems. The greater the extent to which respondent's areas or life was affected by the Troubles, the greater the likelihood that the respondent had poorer mental health.
• Those people whose lives were most affected by the Troubles tended to be Catholic and to have a higher prevalence of ill health.
• Respondents who said that the areas in which they lived were affected by the Troubles also tended to be Catholic and were more likely to have lower incomes, to live in rented accommodation and to have poorer health.
• There was no significant age related gradient in the prevalence of psychological ill health within the age range, and the associations between psychological ill health and socioeconomic status became nonsignificant after the inclusion of health related factors.
• This study suggests that the Troubles are a separate and additional burden on individuals, many of whom are already on average living on low incomes and in poorer health. As such the Troubles contribute significantly to the high levels of morbidity in NI.