Intimate partner violence and its association with maternal depressive symptoms 6–8 months after childbirth in rural Bangladesh

Figures & data

Table 1 Background information of the women and their newborn children

	Women (N=660)	Husbands (N=660)
Age in years (Mean, SD)	24.7 (±6.1)	32.9 (±8.3)
Years of schooling (Mean, SD)	3.7 (±3.5)	3.2 (±4.0)
Poor relationship with husband	12%
Poor relationship with mother-in-law (n=553)	34%
Parity
Primipara	28%
2–3 children	53%
4 or more children	19%
Sex of the newborn child
Girl	51%
Boy	49%
Perceived temperament of the newborn (n=657)
Fussy and difficult (Mean, SD) [Min-Max]	25.9 (±7.5) [9.1–51.8]
Unadaptable (Mean, SD) [Min–Max]	14.2 (±5.2) [4.2–29.4]
Dull (Mean, SD) [Min–Max]	10.2 (±2.8) [3.2–19.7]
Unpredictable (Mean, SD) [Min–Max]	14.5 (±3.9) [5.2–33.2]
Maternal depressive symptoms 6–8 months after childbirth	32%

Table 2 Intimate partner violence experienced by women 6–8 months after childbirth (N=660)

Components of intimate partner violence	Percent
Physical violence (ever)	70
Physical violence during pregnancy	18
Physical violence 6–8 months after childbirth	52
Sexual violence	65
Emotional violence	84

Table 3 Predictors of physical intimate partner violence experienced by women 6–8 months after childbirth (N=660)

	Odds ratio (95% CI)
Parity^§
Primipara	1.00
2–3 children	1.79 (1.00–3.19)
4 or more children	1.95 (0.89–4.29)
Husband's education^§
Illiterate	1.00
1–4 years of schooling	0.80 (0.49–1.32)
Five or more years of schooling	0.41 (0.23–0.73)
Relationship with husband^§
Good	1.00
Poor	2.64 (1.07–6.54)
Relationship with mother-in-law^§
Good	1.00
Poor	2.03 (1.31–3.16)
Emotional violence^§	1.58 (1.35–1.83)

^§Adjusted for woman's and husband's age and education, per capita daily household expenditure, child's temperament, and the other covariates mentioned in the table.

Table 4 Predictors of maternal depressive symptoms 6–8 months after childbirth (N=660)

	Odds ratio* (95% CI)
Fussy and difficult child	1.05 (1.02–1.08)
Poor relationship with husband	4.95 (2.55–9.62)
Physical intimate partner violence after childbirth	2.83 (1.72–4.64)
Sexual violence	1.09 (0.73–1.64)
Emotional violence	1.05 (0.90–1.22)

*Adjusted for woman's and husband's age and education, per capita daily household expenditure, child temperament, relationship with mother-in-law, controlling behavior of husband and the covariates mentioned in the model.

Table 5 Association of economic status and sex of the newborn child with physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV), and maternal depressive symptoms 6–8 months after childbirth (MD) (N=660)

	Sexual violence odds ratio (95% CI)	IPV odds ratio (95% CI)	MD odds ratio (95% CI)
Sex of the newborn*
Girl	1.00	1.00	1.00
Boy	1.16 (0.82–1.66)	0.75 (0.55–1.03)	0.84 (0.60–1.16)
Per capita daily household expenditure^§		1.00 (0.99–1.02)	0.99 (0.97–1.01)

*Univariate analysis; ^§adjusted for woman's and husband's age and education, parity, child's temperament, relationship with of woman with husband and mother-in-law and emotional violence by husband.