Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Hildesheim, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany.
Helios Klinikum Emil von Behring, 14165 Berlin, Germany.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 20;19(9):4993. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19094993.
Around 200 million women and girls worldwide are affected by female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). FGM/C is a procedure that harms or alters the external female genitals for non-medical reasons, and is usually performed on children. Often, this procedure leads to severe consequences for the women's physical and mental health. In a cross-sectional sample of 112 women seeking medical counseling, physical and mental health characteristics associated with FGM/C were examined and possible predictors for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women affected by FGM/C were identified. A total of 55.4% ( = 66) of the women reported symptom levels of probable PTSD. Predictors for higher PTSD symptomology were an older age at the time of the FGM/C procedure, feelings of guilt and the centrality of the event in the woman's life. Thus, cognitive-emotional processing was found to play an important role in the emergence of PTSD in women suffering from FGM/C. However, interventions taking into consideration these characteristics are mostly lacking and need to be investigated further in the context of FGM/C.
全球约有 2 亿女性和女童受到女性生殖器切割的影响。女性生殖器切割是一种出于非医疗原因伤害或改变女性外生殖器的程序，通常在儿童身上进行。这种程序通常会对妇女的身心健康造成严重后果。在一项寻求医疗咨询的 112 名女性的横断面样本中，检查了与女性生殖器切割相关的身心健康特征，并确定了受女性生殖器切割影响的妇女发生创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的可能预测因素。共有 55.4%（=66）的女性报告了可能患有 PTSD 的症状水平。更高的 PTSD 症状预测因素是女性生殖器切割手术时年龄较大、感到内疚以及该事件在女性生活中的中心地位。因此，认知情感处理被发现对遭受女性生殖器切割的妇女出现 PTSD 起着重要作用。然而，考虑到这些特征的干预措施大多缺乏，需要在女性生殖器切割的背景下进一步研究。
