Prevalence and correlates of explosive anger among pregnant and post-partum women in post-conflict Timor-Leste

Derrick Silove; Susan Rees; Natalino Tam; Mohammed Mohsin; Alvin Kuowei Tay; Wietse Tol

doi:10.1192/bjpo.bp.115.000190

Prevalence and correlates of explosive anger among pregnant and post-partum women in post-conflict Timor-Leste

BJPsych Open. 2015 Jul 24;1(1):34-41. doi: 10.1192/bjpo.bp.115.000190. eCollection 2015 Jun.

Authors

Derrick Silove¹, Susan Rees², Natalino Tam³, Mohammed Mohsin⁴, Alvin Kuowei Tay⁵, Wietse Tol⁶

Affiliations

¹ , MB ChB, FRANZCP, MD, Professor and Director, Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit and Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² , PhD, MSocPol, Senior Lecturer, Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, University of New South Wales and Ingham Institute, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
³ , In Country Project Manager, Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ , PhD, Senior Research Officer, Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, Southwest Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
⁵ , MForPsych, Senior Research Officer, Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, Southwest Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
⁶ , PhD, Dr Ali & Rose Kawi Assistant Professor, Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about explosive anger as a response pattern among pregnant and post-partum women in conflict-affected societies.

Aims: To investigate the prevalence and correlates of explosive anger among this population in Timor-Leste.

Method: We assessed traumatic events, intimate partner violence, an index of adversity, explosive anger, psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder among 427 women (257 in the second trimester of pregnancy, 170 who were 3-6 months post-partum) residing in two districts of Timor-Leste (response >99%).

Results: Two-fifths (43.6%) had explosive anger. Levels of functional impairment were related to frequency of explosive anger episodes. Explosive anger was associated with age (>35 years), being married, low levels of education, being employed, traumatic event count, ongoing adversity and intimate partner violence.

Conclusions: A combination of social programmes and novel psychological therapies may assist in reducing severe anger among pregnant and post-partum women in conflict-affected countries such as Timor-Leste.

Declaration of interest: None.

Copyright and usage: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.