Symptoms of anxiety and depression and mother's marital status: an exploratory analysis of polygyny and psychosocial stress.
Many biocultural studies have examined the fitness consequences of polygynous marriage for women in Africa. Few studies have examined the mental health correlates of polygynous marriage despite the emerging interest by human biologists in mental health outcomes. In this study, we tested for an association between measures of psychosocial stress and marital status in a representative sample of 408 mothers in two Tanzania communities. Results showed no association between measures of psychological distress and marital status. Our results suggest that despite the widely cited reproductive costs to polygynously married women, there do not appear to be accompanying costs to mental health.
Patil
Crystal
C
Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7139, USA. clpatil@uic.edu
Hadley
Craig
C
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology