Domestic violence and its relationship to mental health and post-traumatic symptoms in pregnant women in Hebron
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29284/z6rr6x25Keywords:
violence, domestic violence, health, mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, pregnant womenAbstract
The study aimed to identify domestic violence and its relationship with mental health and post-traumatic symptoms among pregnant women in Hebron. To achieve this, a correlational descriptive approach was used. The study population consisted of all pregnant women in the city of Hebron. The researcher developed a scale for psychological violence and a scale for post-traumatic symptoms, along with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The three scales were applied to a sample of 335 pregnant women from Hebron. Ultimately, the findings were: The results showed that the level of domestic violence against pregnant women in Hebron was high. The percentage of women who experienced violence among the women participating in the study was 78.8%. The results also revealed that 42.7% of the women who faced violence experienced it more than six times, indicating a significant frequency of violence. The results indicated that the level of domestic violence was moderate, with an arithmetic mean of 3.29 and a standard deviation of 1.35. The findings showed that the level of mental health among pregnant women in Hebron was low, with a mean score of 2.60. The results regarding post-traumatic stress symptoms, as detailed in Table 17 in the previous section, indicate that the level of post-traumatic stress symptoms was moderate, with a mean score of 3.29. The results exhibited a strong inverse relationship with statistical significance at the significance level of 0.001 between domestic violence and mental health, with domestic violence explaining and accounting for 84.5% of the decline in mental health. The results indicated a strong, statistically significant positive relationship between domestic violence and post-traumatic stress symptoms, and this relationship explains 84.0% of the occurrence of post-traumatic stress symptoms in pregnant women.
The study also showed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean ranks of the respondents' estimates regarding the level of domestic violence and its relationship with mental health and post-traumatic stress symptoms among pregnant women in Hebron, from their perspective, according to a set of demographic and social variables (the nature of the wife's work, the nature of the husband's work, blood type, age of the wife, age of the husband, number of pregnancies, educational level of the husband, and number of family members). On the other hand, the results showed no statistically significant differences in the post-traumatic stress symptom scale related to the educational level of the pregnant woman.
Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations were formulated: It is recommended to establish specialized units to detect domestic violence cases early during pregnancy, and to provide psychological support and legal advice to affected women. These units should be part of the primary care system, not secondary services, and should operate confidentially and efficiently to ensure the protection of pregnant women and enhance their sense of security.
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