Investigation of Psychological Distress in Pregnant Women under Domestic Violence

Introduction and Aim: Psychological distress is a common disorder during pregnancy. Nevertheless, it is recommended to conduct national and regional studies to identify factors influencing it. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating psychological distress in pregnant women subjected to domestic violence. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 on 305 pregnant mothers subjected to domestic violence in southern Iran. Subjects were included in the study by census and the data were collected through questionnaires: Kessler's psychological distress and the short form of domestic violence screening scale. Then, they were analyzed using SPSS version 24 software. Results: The mean score and ± standard deviation of the psychological distress of pregnant women under domestic violence was 24.68 ± 6.43. The results showed that psychological distress had a direct and significant statistical relationship with the age of pregnant women (p<0.05 and r=0.18), marriage duration (p<0.001 and r=0.31), number of children (p<0.001 and r=0.22), and domestic violence (p<0.001 and r=0.73). . Also, the result of the independent t-test showed that women with planned pregnancy had lower mean scores of psychological distress than women with unwanted pregnancy (p<0.001, t=5.13). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the identification of factors influencing domestic violence and psychological distress as a main and important priority in the health of mothers and infants should receive the attention of healthcare managers.