Archives of Women's Mental Health最新文献

Purpose

Our study examines the socio-demographic, forensic psychiatric, and childhood trauma exposure (CTE) data of Turkish intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators and draws comparisons with the violence data.

Methods

Data of male perpetrators referred to the domestic violence outpatient clinic by judicial authorities between November 2019 and June 2022 were retrospectively examined, with a focus on CTE data.

Results

The mean age of the male perpetrators examined in the study was 37.1 years. Among the overall sample, 16.2% (n = 17) had experienced violence at school in childhood, and 22.9% (n = 24) had experienced CTE. Regarding the frequency of domestic violence in their households, of the perpetrators admitted to the clinic for IPV, 40% (n = 42) reported rarely, 43.8% (n = 46) sometimes, and 16.2% (n = 17) often engaged in violent acts. There is a significant relationship between the frequency of IPV and the level of CTE (χ2: 13.052, SD: 2, p = 0.001, Cramer’s V: 0.353). Similarly, individuals who witnessed domestic violence during childhood were found to commit partner violence more frequently (χ2: 8.157, SD: 2, p = 0.017, Cramer’s V: 0.279).

Conclusions

In this study, we found a strong relationship between CTE and IPV. To the best of our knowledge, our study is only example that investigates the relationship between CTE and IPV in a Turkish sample.

Purpose

Antipsychotic-induced prolactin elevation may impede protective effects of estrogens in women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD). Our study sought to confirm whether the use of prolactin-raising antipsychotics is associated with lower estrogen levels, and to investigate how estrogen and prolactin levels relate to symptom severity and cognition in premenopausal women with SSD.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 79 premenopausal women, divided in three groups of women with SSD treated with prolactin-sparing antipsychotics (n = 21) or prolactin-raising antipsychotics (n = 27), and age-matched women without SSD (n = 31). Circulating 17β-estradiol was compared among groups. In patients, we assessed the relationship between prolactin and 17β-estradiol, and the relationships of these hormones to symptom severity and cognition, using correlation analyses and backward regression models.

Results

In women receiving prolactin-raising antipsychotics, 17β-estradiol levels were lower as compared to both other groups (H(2) = 8.34; p = 0.015), and prolactin was inversely correlated with 17β-estradiol (r=-0.42, p = 0.030). In the prolactin-raising group, 17β-estradiol correlated positively with verbal fluency (r = 0.52, p = 0.009), and 17β-estradiol and prolactin together explained 29% of the variation in processing speed (β_{17β−estradiol} = 0.24, β_prolactin = -0.45, F(2,25) = 5.98, p = 0.008). In the prolactin-sparing group, 17β-estradiol correlated negatively with depression/anxiety (r = -0.57, p = 0.014), and together with prolactin explained 26% of the variation in total symptoms (β_{17β−estradiol} = -0.41, β_prolactin = 0.32, F(2,18) = 4.44, p = 0.027).

Conclusions

In women with SSD, antipsychotic-induced prolactin elevation was related to lower estrogen levels. Further, estrogens negatively correlated with symptom severity and positively with cognition, whereas prolactin levels correlated negatively with cognition. Our findings stress the clinical importance of maintaining healthy levels of prolactin and estrogens in women with SSD.

To specify psychoactive substances and related complications observed in spontaneous reports (SRs) in women versus men, we assessed SRs on substance-linked acute toxicity sent to a French Addictovigilance centre. Over the period 2021–2022, 880 SRs were analysed (33.4% concerned women). Severe complications concerned more men than women (70.3% versus 59.5%; p = 0.0014). In women, the main implicated substances were psychoactive medications (opioids, benzodiazepines). The most frequently reported complication was suicidal behaviour (14.6% versus 7.8%, p = 0.002). In men, SRs concerned mainly illicit substances (cocaine, amphetamines) or misuse of opioid maintenance therapy or nitrous oxide. The main complications in men were infections (12.97% versus 5.4%, p = 0.0006) and neurological troubles (37.6% versus 23.5%, p < 0.0001).

Our data highlight sex/gender disparities in substance use and complications, in agreement with recent literature and French national Addictovigilance data.

Purpose

Violence against women is a common public health problem and causes negative mental health outcomes. Mind–body therapies aim to positively affect a person's mental health by focusing on the interaction between mind, body, and behavior. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of mind–body therapies on women's mental health.

Methods

Randomized controlled trials published in the last 20 years comparing mind–body therapies with active control or waiting lists in women victims of violence were included. Pubmed, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases were searched until August 2023. The random effects model and fixed effects model were used for data analysis. The heterogeneity of the study was assessed using the I² index, and publication bias was assessed using Egger's test and funnel plot.

Results

Twelve eligible studies with a sample size of 440 women victims of violence were selected. Mind–body therapies led to a statistically significant reduction in anxiety scores (SMD: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.89), depression scores (SMD: 1.68, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.52) and posttraumatic stress scores (SMD: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.18). There was a high level of heterogeneity in the outcome for anxiety (I² = 85.18), a high level of heterogeneity for depression (I² = 88.82), and a low level of heterogeneity for PTSD (I² = 19.61). Results of subgroup analysis based on the number of sessions showed that eight or fewer sessions reduced anxiety (SMD: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.37, 4.83) and depression scores (SMD: 3.44, 95% CI: 1.21, 5.68), while PTSD scores did not change.

Conclusion

Evidence suggests that mind–body therapies may reduce anxiety, depression, and PTSD in women victims of violence.

Purpose

Although the division of unpaid household labor has been studied as a driver of global gender inequity, the cognitive dimension of household labor—planning, anticipating, and delegating household tasks—has received less empirical investigation. Cognitive household labor represents a form of invisible and often unacknowledged domestic work that has been challenging to measure.

Methods

Within 322 mothers of young children, we assessed the division of both cognitive (“planning”) and physical (“execution”) household labor within 30 common household tasks using a self-report measure.

Results

We found that while mothers did more of the overall domestic labor than their partners, the division of cognitive labor was particularly gendered, such that women’s share of cognitive labor was more disproportionate than physical household labor. We found that cognitive labor was associated with women’s depression, stress, burnout, overall mental health, and relationship functioning.

Conclusions

This study is one of the first to investigate cognitive labor quantitatively, and the first to investigate cognitive and physical dimensions within the same household tasks. Understanding how cognitive labor affects mothers’ mental wellbeing has important implications for both practice and policy.

Purpose

Postpartum mood disorders affect many women following childbirth. Prescribing medication for depression and anxiety is one strategy for the effective treatment of postpartum mood disorders. Left untreated, mothers experiencing these disorders and their infants face increased risks of adverse health outcomes. Little is known about how diagnosis and treatment of postpartum mood disorders changed during COVID-19.

Methods

We used a retrospective pooled cross-sectional design in a sample of privately-insured postpartum women in U.S. claims data from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020. We measured changes in diagnoses of anxiety and depression and changes in prescription fills and days supplied of classes of medications used to treat these conditions (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and z-drugs). We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression for each outcome variable during the pre-pandemic period and forecast expected outcomes the observation period. Forecasted and actual values of the outcomes were then compared.

Results

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, diagnoses of depression and anxiety were not significantly higher among privately insured postpartum women in the United States. The proportion of privately-insured postpartum women filling a benzodiazepine prescription increased by 15.2%.

Conclusions

We find diagnosis of postpartum mood disorders did not increase after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, fills of benzodiazepines increased among privately-insured postpartum women. Given prior evidence of increased depressive and anxiety symptoms among postpartum women during COVID-19, this suggests increased barriers to appropriate diagnoses and treatment for depression during this period.

Aims

This systematic review aims to summarize the findings of empirical studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) examining the relationship between postpartum depression and anxiety, and child developmental outcomes measured at 24 months of child’s age.

Methods

The study was performed as per PRISMA guidelines for a systematic review. EBESCO, ProQuest, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and BMJ databases were examined, along with a forward and backward examination of the citations published. The New Ottawa scales (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the studies. The findings of the studies were integrated using a narrative synthesis approach.

Results

The systematic review revealed that there are 14 studies examining the impact of postpartum depression (n=14) and postpartum anxiety (n=2) across different domains of child development in LMICs. Studies varied regarding the severity and duration of maternal depression, the context and nature of evaluation, and motherinfant characteristics which are important to understand the association between postpartum depression and anxiety and infant development. Maternal depression is negatively associated with language development, socio-emotional and behavioural development while its association with motor and cognitive development is inconsistent. The impact of maternal anxiety on infant development was examined in two studies, and both have identified a negative association. However, the results of the current review need to be interpreted within the scope and limitations of the methodologies adopted by each study details of which are elaborated in the manuscript.

Conclusion

Postpartum depression and anxiety can have a wide range of effects on child development. Therefore, periodic infant developmental assessments should become part of routine psychiatric evaluation. There is a need for uniform guidelines for conducting studies and reporting data related to postpartum mental health and child development.

Purpose

Using social media can have negative consequences. The present study aimed to examine how the partner’s problematic social media use (SMU) was related to the pregnant woman’s time perspective and prenatal depression.

Methods

The study included 30 pregnant women and their 30 male partners. Research was conducted twice: in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. Women completed online measures: the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory Fatalism scale (ZTPI-Fat), the Dark Future Scale (DFS), and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Men completed the online Social Media Addiction Questionnaire (SMAQ).

Results

The woman’s depressive symptoms were positively associated with fatalism (r = .35, p < .01 in the first trimester; r = .49, p < .01 in the third trimester) and future negative perspective (r = .33, p < .05 in the first trimester; r = .77, p < .001 in the third trimester). Moreover, in the third trimester, women’s depressive symptoms correlated positively with their partners’ problematic SMU (r = .36, p < .05) and negatively with their financial situation (r = − .37, p < .05). The results of the mediation analyses showed that the more intensive the partner’s problematic SMU, the stronger the pregnant woman’s fatalism and, consequently, the stronger her future negative perspective, resulting in more severe prenatal depressive symptoms in the third trimester (indirect effect: β = .16, SE = .09, 95% CI [.021, .393]).

Conclusions

Our findings show how important the behavior of the partner is for the mental health of the pregnant woman. The results suggest a possible mechanism explaining the relationship between the partner’s problematic SMU and the woman’s prenatal depressive symptoms. This mechanism probably consists in increasing the woman’s sense of helplessness and loss of control over life, which leads to intensified future anxiety and, consequently, to depressive symptoms. Moreover, we interpreted the results to mean that the partner’s time-consuming preoccupation with SMU may make the woman feel emotionally neglected. The lack of support from the partner may give rise to feelings of powerlessness, and may cause depressive symptoms.