Anglophone fathers are almost twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts as Francophones and are proportionally much more likely to experience distress, shows a study released Wednesday.
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According to a survey conducted in March as part of the research, 19% of English-speaking fathers have a high psychological distress index, compared to 12% of French-speaking fathers.
Similarly, 11% of Anglophone fathers admitted to having had suicidal thoughts in the past year, compared to 6% of Francophones.
At the same time, the study found that 60% of English-speaking fathers had experienced domestic violence during their childhood or adolescence.
“Four in ten say they have been victims of psychological abuse, three in ten of major physical violence and one in six of sexual assault. For these three forms of violence, the rates are 1.2 to 2.7 times higher among English-speaking fathers, compared to French-speaking fathers. The differences are very significant,” explained the scientific director of the study, psychology researcher Carl Lacharité.
“These observations raise several questions to better understand the reality of these fathers and to be able to better support them, but in particular, that of the socioeconomic context in which they live and, inevitably, that of their proximity to the social or community services that could come to their aid,” continued the scientist attached to the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.