A mid-western university has joined forces with a Galway based national youth organisation to conduct research into the impact of relationship break-ups on young people’s lives.
The initiative between The University of Limerick and SpunOut.ie aims to obtain information about ways of understanding and managing the upset following a break-up.
Dr Aidan McKiernan, a psychologist at the university, believes the pain involved is often underestimated. He became interested in the project because of his own break-up experiences and their impact on him personally.
The research project will be submitted as Dr Mc Kiernan’s clinical psychology doctoral thesis in May 2011.
He says the partnership with SpunOut.ie will involve listening to young people and hearing their stories and experiences about break-ups.
“This way we can better understand the issues and work with young people in dealing with experiences that may otherwise have a significant impact on them, perhaps for the rest of their lives. We already know that break-ups can be an associated risk factor for suicide, something that surely needs urgent attention.
“ The ‘Project Break-Up’ discussion forum is moderated by trained volunteers 24/7 and gives young people an opportunity to support each other in an anonymous setting. We’ve already heard over 150 submissions to the SpunOut.ie ‘Project Break-up’ forum and we’re appealing for many more.”
