Depressive symptoms in pregnant women and intimate partner violence: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms in pregnant women and their association with intimate partner violence. Methods: This is a cross-sectional pilot study conducted with a sample of 65 pregnant women who performed prenatal care at the Basic Health Unit of the Federal University of Amapa in September and October 2018. For data collection, a socioeconomic, demographic and obstetric questionnaire was used, apart from the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, and the Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence. Results: 41.5% of the pregnant women had depressive symptoms; in the logistic regression analysis, these symptoms have a significant association in women who suffer some type of intimate partner violence (OR = 6.74; 95% CI: 2.0 - 21.7; p = 0.001). In addition, being employed, being single, having low schooling, low family income, and unwanted pregnancies were affected by depressive symptoms during pregnancy. Conclusions: There was a high percentage of depressive symptoms during pregnancy and these were related to intimate partner violence.