The Effects of Spouse Violence Upon Women's Mental Health

Abstract

Objective: This descriptive and cross-sectional research examines the effect of spouse violence on women's mental health. Material and Methods: The research included 591 married women who presented to three primary public health care units randomly chosen among nineteen. Data were collected by "Personal Inquiry Form", "Domestic Violence Questionnaires" and "General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)". Data were analyzed by the Student's t-test, variance analysis and correlations test. Results: Overall, 64% of women were exposed to spouse violence. The average score for the general health of women was 5.16 +/- 5.09 and 48.1% of women were psychologically at risk. The average score for the general health of women who were exposed to spouse violence was remarkably higher (6.14 +/- 5.50) than those who never experienced spouse violence (3.40 +/- 3.67). The average score for GHQ for women who were exposed to all of four violence types (psychological, psychological/verbal, economic and sexual) was highest with 11.43 +/- 5.85 and for women who were exposed to only one violence type was the lowest with 4.11 +/- 3.85. A significant positive correlation was found between the number of violence types and average scores on GHQ (r=0.22, p<0.001). Conclusion: Spouse violence in the vicinities of primary public health care units is a major health problem and the mental health of women who are exposed to spouse violence is at risk more than those who are not exposed to spouse violence.