Do Pregnant Teens Have Higher Risk of Intimate Partner Violence than Pregnant Adult Women in Mexico?

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and identify factors linked to it in pregnant Mexican adult and adolescent women. Methods: Data were gathered by the National Survey of Violence against Women (2006), applied to women between the ages 15-49, users of Mexican public health institutions. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the significant factors associated with IPV against pregnant women. Results: Both adolescent and adult study participating women showed a 24% prevalence of current IPV (during the previous 12 months). The study’s multivariate model for adult women revealed the following as main predictors for IPV: a woman’s agreement with traditional gender roles (OR = 4.35, CI95% = 2.20 - 8.60), and women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (OR = 2.76, CI95% = 1.68 - 4.55). The main predictor of IPV in pregnant adolescents was their partners’ frequency of alcohol consumption: often/usually (OR = 6.49, CI95% = 2.18 - 19.33). Conclusion: To this date, Mexico has not been able to guarantee universal screening methods for IPV as a part of prenatal care protocols. The phenomenon of IPV towards pregnant women neither has been followed-up by further research nor has been identified as a public health problem in spite of the seriousness of its implications for women and their offspring.