The Impact of Intimate Partner Abuse on the Loneliness and Mental Well-Being of Separated Fathers in Wales.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between partner abuse and measures of distress in nonresident fathers. The impact of partner abuse on women has been widely studied but has been considered less often for male victims. Mental well-being and social/emotional isolation (loneliness) were quantified in this cross-sectional study using validated measures for a cohort of nonresident fathers in Wales. The study population was found to have substantially higher loneliness and lower mental well-being than the general population. Of 15 predictor variables that might potentially have an association with these adverse outcomes, the fathers' experience of partner abuse was the variable most strongly associated, and its effect size was large and significant. The severity and prevalence of the observed degraded well-being and severe loneliness challenge the notion that partner abuse of men is either relatively uncommon compared with that of women or that it is lacking in a comparable impact.