Domestic violence and psychological problems in married women during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: A community-based survey.

BACKGROUND

Following the declaration of Coronavirus disease-2019 as a pandemic, a nation-wide lockdown was announced in India. This led to increase in psychological problems, especially in women.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence of psychological problems and domestic violence (DV) in married women during the pandemic and lockdown in a panchayat in Southern India and to study the association of socio-demographic and clinical variables with psychological problems.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was undertaken in 209 married women of 18-55 years residing in a village panchayat of northern Kerala, India. Socio-demographic variables and clinical variables, like depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, perceived stress and DV, among others, were evaluated. The participants were interviewed by trained community health workers in the post-lockdown period.

RESULTS

The prevalence of depressive symptoms was found to be 10.0 %, anxiety symptoms 7.2 % and perceived stress 66.0 %. Severe DV was reported by 6.2 %; but at least one form of DV was experienced by 25.8 % of the women. Significant positive correlation was observed for DV with depression and anxiety. DV was also found to be a significant predictor of depression (adjusted OR [aOR] = 4.26, P = 0.006) and anxiety (aOR=4.34, P=0.02). Being a homemaker (aOR=4.51, P = 0.03) and having past history of mental illness (aOR=5.39, P = 0.03) were also found to increase the risk for depression significantly.

CONCLUSION

There is a high prevalence of psychological problems in married women during the pandemic and lockdown. DV was found to be a significant predictor of depression and anxiety in this population.