We recorded a clear positive association between the frequency of psychological violence during pregnancy and the occurrence of postnatal depression, even after adjustments. As in previous studies, psychological violence was much more common than was physical or sexual violence.
Psychological violence during pregnancy by an intimate partner is strongly associated with postnatal depression, independently of physical or sexual violence, according to a paper by researchers in Bristol and Brazil, published today in The Lancet. This finding has important policy implications since most social policies focus on prevention and treatment of physical violence. Dr Ana Bernarda Ludermir of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco , Recife, Brazil, and colleagues in the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol, studied pregnant women (aged 18-49 years) in Recife, northeastern Brazil between July 2005 and December 2006. The women, who were attending primary health-care clinics during their third trimester, were interviewed while they were pregnant and after delivery. The form of partner violence in pregnancy was assessed with a validated questionnaire, and the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale was used to measure postnatal depression. A total of 1,133 pregnant women were eligible for inclusion in the study, of whom 1,045 had complete data for all variables and were included in the analysis. 270 women (26 per cent) had postnatal depression. The most common form of partner violence was psychological (28 per cent).
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