It’s the people that make it special: an exploration of social connection as a protective factor supporting behavioural health among a sample of young men in Belfast

Abstract

Previous public health and social science literature support the assertion that social connection operates as a protective factor to promote good behavioural health across populations. However, features of High Traditional Masculinity (the hegemonic form of masculine identity in Britain and Ireland) may inhibit the ability of men and boys to form and maintain emotionally intimate relationships, thereby limiting the number and strength of their connections to others and contributing to elevated levels of loneliness and psychiatric morbidity and mortality. This study has explored the role of social connection to support good behavioural health among young men in Belfast, including serious adverse outcomes like suicidal thoughts and behaviours, through a three-phase explanatory sequential study design.In Phase 1, a secondary analysis was conducted of data from the Belfast Youth Development Study using a multilevel logistic regression. The findings of this analysis informed the development of the semi-structured interview schedule utilised in Phase 2, the analysis of which provided additional context for the model results. In Phase 3, these findings were further contextualized through a series of key informant interviews with organisations providing behavioural health support to men and boys.During the process of study design, an Integrated Conceptual Framework was created to view and operationalise the interactions of Thomas Joiner's Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (a key contemporary theory of suicidal behaviour) and the features of High Traditional Masculinity as described by Raewyn Connell’s Theory of Masculinities. This Framework was a valuable tool in considering the best way to investigate the research questions, as well as the study’s components in all three phases. The findings of this study support the use of the Integrated Conceptual Framework it introduces to understand the interplay of gender, the transitional nature of adolescence, and the development of suicidal risk in young men.