Risk for family rejection and associated mental health outcomes among conflict-affected adult women living in rural eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Health Care Women Int. 2014;35(7-9):789-807. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2014.903953. Epub 2014 May 16.

Abstract

Stigma due to sexual violence includes family rejection, a complex outcome including economic, behavioral, and physical components. We explored the relationship among conflict-related trauma, family rejection, and mental health in adult women living in rural eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, who participate in a livestock-based microfinance program, Pigs for Peace. Exposure to multiple and different types of conflict-related trauma, including sexual assault, was associated with increased likelihood of family rejection, which in turn was associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Design of appropriate and effective interventions will require understanding family relationships and exposure to different types of trauma in postconflict environments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Family / ethnology
  • Family / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Mental Health
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Rape / psychology*
  • Rejection, Psychology*
  • Rural Population
  • Social Discrimination / ethnology
  • Social Discrimination / psychology*
  • Social Stigma
  • Social Support
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Survivors / psychology*
  • Warfare
  • Young Adult