Pregnancy, spousal connectedness, and young married women’s mental health: an analysis of the Bangladesh adolescent health and wellbeing survey

Mental health disorders are responsible for 125.3 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost globally, with depression in adolescents rising faster than in adults. In total, more than 90% of the 1.2 billion adolescents in the world live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite the rise in teenage marriage and pregnancy in LMICs, there is a paucity of research on the role of pregnancy as a risk factor for adolescent mental health, and the role of spousal connectedness as a potential protective factor. This study aims to address this gap. A total of 2408 currently married adolescent (aged 15–19 years) women from the Bangladesh Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey 2019–2020 were analysed. Multivariable models were used to assess the factors associated with depression symptoms and major depressive disorder (MDD). The prevalence of moderate/severe depressive symptoms or MDD among adolescents was 14.6%, well ahead of south Asian levels. The odds of having moderate/severe depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.37–2.76) or MDD (AOR=1.63, 95%CI 1.18–2.25) were higher in pregnant adolescent women than in non-pregnant adolescent women. A closer relationship with one’s husband reduced the risk of developing moderate/severe depressive symptoms (AOR=0.90, 95% CI 0.84–0.96) or MDD (AOR=0.91, 95% CI 0.86–0.97). Pregnancy and connectedness had no statistically significant interaction effect on depression. There is an urgent need for affordable and scalable interventions to reduce the risk of mental health morbidity in pregnant adolescent women especially in low- and middle-income countries.