Prevalence of Spouse Abuse, and Evaluation of Mental Health Status in Female Victims of Spousal Violence in Tehran

Shahrbanou Ghahari; Jafar Bolhari; Mohammad Kazem Atef Vahid; Hamidreza Ahmadkhaniha; Leila Panaghi; Hamid Yousefi

IJ Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

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Prevalence of Spouse Abuse, and Evaluation of Mental Health Status in Female Victims of Spousal Violence in Tehran

Author(s):

Shahrbanou Ghahari^1,*,

Jafar Bolhari²,

Mohammad Kazem Atef Vahid²,

Hamidreza Ahmadkhaniha²,

Leila Panaghi³,

Hamid Yousefi⁴

1Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Iran

2Department of Psychiatry, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Tehran, Iran

3Family research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran

4Department of Social Psychiatry, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Tehran, Iran

IJ Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences:Vol. 3, issue 1; 50-6

Published online:Jun 30, 2009

Article type:Research Article

Received:Sep 25, 2008

Accepted:Mar 12, 2009

How to Cite:Shahrbanou GhahariJafar BolhariMohammad Kazem Atef VahidHamidreza AhmadkhanihaLeila PanaghiHamid Yousefiet al.Prevalence of Spouse Abuse, and Evaluation of Mental Health Status in Female Victims of Spousal Violence in Tehran.Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci.3(1):50-6.

Abstract

Objective: Spouse abuse is a worldwide health concern with prevalent psychiatric and medical consequences in victims. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of spouse abuse among a group of women living in Tehran and survey their mental health status.

Methods: Totally, 1186 married women were selected through a randomized systematic sampling from 22 districts of Tehran. Initial data were obtained by demographic questionnaire, Spouse Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ) and General Health Questionnaire - 28 (GHQ-28). Data were analyzed using Student's unpaired t-test or χ 2 test, when appropriate.

Results: Of 1186 women, 980 (82.6%) were physically and sexually abused, however, 818 (68.9%) were physically and emotionally and 835 (70.5%) were sexually and emotionally abused by their husbands. Spouse abused women, especially emotionally and physically abused clients had higher GHQ-28 scores in all the components of the test while their differences with non-abused women were statistically significant. This is interpreted as poor mental health status among these victims.

Conclusion: Our results revealed the high prevalence of maltreatment against women living in Tehran. Meanwhile, our victims were more commonly suffered from anxiety and depressive disorders and achieved poor mental health status and low social performance.

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