Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and its outcome

Objective: To determine the predictive relationship of violence by intimate partner specifically during pregnancy with stress, anxiety, depression in postnatal period

Study Design: Cross sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at Jinnah Medical and Dental College [JMDC] Karachi, from Jan 2016 to Jun 2016

Material and Methods: Sample of present study consisted of 70 women between 18 to 40 years with mean age of 26.02 +/- 5.5 years. Demographic information form, Karachi domestic violence scale, and depression, anxiety, stress scale were administered after 1 to 2 weeks of delivery

Results: The study identified that violence against women prevailed was found 32.9 percent. Regression analysis showed that violence against women during pregnancy has 23.4 percent variation in scores of depression, 17.5 percent variations in scores of anxiety domain, and 5.8 percent variation in scores of stress

Conclusion: Keeping in view the intimate partner violence prevalence against women during pregnancy and its adverse impact on the mental health of women, it is suggested to include screening program at perinatal clinics to identify at risk women to provide further clinical services to preclude negative outcomes

Negative emotional states, marital status and gender: a comparative study

The aim of the present study was to investigate negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress in married and unmarried men and women. It was hypothesized that the level of depression, anxiety and stress would be high in unmarried men and women as compared to married men and women. The sample of the study comprised of 137 participants, 82 participants were male [50 married and 32 unmarried] and 55 were female [31 married and 24 unmarried] age ranging from 35 to 50 years. Their socioeconomic status was middle and their minimum educational level was graduation. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales [DASS] [Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995] was administered to measure negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress in married and unmarried men and women. Two-Way ANOVA was applied through statistical package for social sciences [SPSS, V-12.0] to test the significance of results. Results reflect Marital Status as a significant determinant for depression [F [1, 133] =21.69, p<.001], anxiety [F [1, 133]= 24.44, p<.001] and stress [F [1, 133] = 12.06, p<.001]. However factor of gender found to be not significant as trivial difference was found among males and females on variable of depression, anxiety and stress. Further, interaction effect of gender and marital status found to play significant role in determining depression and anxiety but not in stress. It was found that unmarried females are the most vulnerable group for all the three negative emotional states

Self-esteem and religious orientation among adults of religious institutions in Karachi

To investigate self-esteem as a factor of intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation and to further investigate the role of gender in religious orientation among the students and teachers of religious institutions [Madrasas] in Karachi. Corelational study/comparative study. Different religious institutions of Karachi from January, 2008 to October, 2008. It was hypothesized that [1] self-esteem will be positively correlated with intrinsic religious orientation; [2] self esteem will be negatively correlated with extrinsic religious orientation; [3] females will be more intrinsically religious than males and, [4] males will be more extrinsically religious than females. The sample consisted of 74 [43 male and 31 female students and teachers] of different religious institutions of Karachi -Pakistan. Their age range was from 18 to 59 years with the mean age of 27 years [SD = 9.78]. Their socioeconomic status was middle and their minimum educational level was intermediate. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, [1] Urdu translation and The Age-Universal I-E scale [Gorsuch and Venable, [2]Urdu translation] were administered following the administration of a demographic form. Pearson Product Moment Coefficient correlation and t-test were applied to assess relationship between the variables and test the significance of the result. Results indicated that there exist a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and intrinsic religious orientation [r=.224, p<.05]. Moreover, relationship between self-esteem and extrinsic religious orientation is non significant [r = -.247, p> .05]. Further, females are more intrinsically religious [t2.249, df=72, p<.05] than males; and males are more extrinsically religious [t=2.46, df= 72, p<. 05] than females.. The findings of the present study highlight the significant role of self esteem in intrinsic religious orientation; role of gender in religious orientation and also suggest avenues for future research