Depressive disorder in pregnant Latin women: does intimate partner violence matter?

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To identify the association of antenatal depressive symptoms with intimate partner violence during the current pregnancy in Brazilian women.

Background: Intimate partner violence is an important risk factor for antenatal depression. To the authors' knowledge, there has been no study to date that assessed the association between intimate partner violence during pregnancy and antenatal depressive symptoms among Brazilian women.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Three hundred and fifty-eight pregnant women were enrolled in the study. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and an adapted version of the instrument used in the World Health Organization Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence were used to measure antenatal depressive symptoms and psychological, physical and sexual acts of intimate partner violence during the current pregnancy respectively. Multiple logistic regression and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis.

Results: The prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms, as determined by the cut-off score of 12 in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, was 28·2% (101). Of the participants, 63 (17·6%) reported some type of intimate partner violence during pregnancy. Among them, 60 (95·2%) reported suffering psychological violence, 23 (36·5%) physical violence and one (1·6%) sexual violence. Multiple logistic regression and multiple linear regression indicated that antenatal depressive symptoms are extremely associated with intimate partner violence during pregnancy.

Conclusion: Among Brazilian women, exposure to intimate partner violence during pregnancy increases the chances of experiencing antenatal depressive symptoms.

Relevance to clinical practice: Clinical nurses and nurses midwifes should pay attention to the particularities of Brazilian women, especially with regard to the occurrence of intimate partner violence, whose impacts on the mental health of this population are extremely significant, both during the gestational period and postpartum.

Keywords: Latin America; antenatal depression; depressive disorder; intimate partner violence; mental health; nurse midwives; nursing care; pregnancy; safe motherhood; spouse abuse; women's health.