title: Spousal violence against women and its association with women's mental health in Pakistan.
abstract: In Pakistan, the issue of spousal violence is under-researched and still not considered a public health problem. To assess the association of spousal violence with women's mental health, a hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted through a structured interview schedule with 373 randomly selected ever-married women of reproductive age in eight randomly selected hospitals in the cities of Lahore and Sialkot, Pakistan. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, women's experiences of past and current psychological, physical, and sexual violence remained significantly associated with women's poor mental health. The situation warrants urgent action to mitigate the violence-induced damages done to women's mental health.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab , Lahore , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Rubeena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zakar
authors.forename: Muhammad Zakria
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Zakar
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mikolajczyk
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kraemer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054541:Family Conflict; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008393:Marriage / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult