Young Men and Relationship Breakdown: A Grounded Theory

Intimate partner relationship breakdown is a significant risk factor for suicide in men. Linked to this risk is the emotional upheaval tied to grief and loss-an area that has received little research attention in young men. This study aimed to theorize the emotional and social processes by which young men react to and recover from relationship breakdown. Twenty-two Australian men (aged 19-30 years) who had been through a breakup in the preceding three years participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyze interviews and explicate a theory of post-breakup reaction and recovery, that was conceptually advanced with a masculinities framework. Our theory highlighted a process of <i>mixing emotions</i>, where diverse emotions interacted to exacerbate or buffer a core of sadness. The mixing of emotions often spilled into overwhelm, indicated by <i>massing emotions</i> and featuring suicidality for some young men. In response, young men mobilized varied strategies for <i>managing emotions</i>, featuring interlinked processes of <i>withdrawing</i>, <i>distracting</i>, and <i>expressing</i>. With time, recovering was indicated by <i>prioritizing self</i>, wherein participants purposefully centered their needs as requisite to healing. This comprised <i>triaging influences</i>, where young men simultaneously engaged social supports, amid disregarding peer advice to immediately re-partner as this was deemed incompatible with recovering. Finally, in <i>reconciling</i>, young men took on their breakup experiences as a source of learning and resilience. Findings add to the growing body of evidence centering healthy adjustment to relationship breakdown as critical for suicide prevention in men.