Do Pregnant Teens Have Higher Risk of Intimate Partner Violence than Pregnant Adult Women in Mexico?

Rosario Valdez Santiago, Mariana Mojarro Iñiguez, Elisa Hidalgo Solorzano, Leticia Avila Burgos, Luz Arenas Monreal

WHO Collaborating Centre for Injuries and Violence Research, National Institute of Public Health (INSP/Mexico), Cuernavaca, Mexico.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2014.620320                

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and identify factors linked to it in pregnant Mexican adult and adolescent women. Methods: Data were gathered by the National Survey of Violence against Women (2006), applied to women between the ages 15-49, users of Mexican public health institutions. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the significant factors associated with IPV against pregnant women. Results: Both adolescent and adult study participating women showed a 24% prevalence of current IPV (during the previous 12 months). The study’s multivariate model for adult women revealed the following as main predictors for IPV: a woman’s agreement with traditional gender roles (OR = 4.35, CI95% = 2.20 - 8.60), and women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (OR = 2.76, CI95% = 1.68 - 4.55). The main predictor of IPV in pregnant adolescents was their partners’ frequency of alcohol consumption: often/usually (OR = 6.49, CI95% = 2.18 - 19.33). Conclusion: To this date, Mexico has not been able to guarantee universal screening methods for IPV as a part of prenatal care protocols. The phenomenon of IPV towards pregnant women neither has been followed-up by further research nor has been identified as a public health problem in spite of the seriousness of its implications for women and their offspring.

Keywords

Partner Violence in Pregnancy, Adolescents & Adults, Mexico

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Valdez-Santiago, R. and Sanin-Aguirre, LH. (1996) Domestic Violence during Pregnancy and Its Relationship with Birth Weight. Salud Pública de México, 38, 352-362. La violencia domestica durante el embarazo y su relacion con el peso al nacer. spa.
[2]	Nunez-Rivas, H.P., Monge-Rojas, R., Grios-Davila, C., Elizondo-Urena, A.M. and Rojas-Chavarria, A. (2003) Physical, Psychological, Emotional, and Sexual Violence during Pregnancy as a Reproductive-Risk Predictor of Low Birth-weight in Costa Rica. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 14, 75-83. La violencia fisica, psicologica, emocional y sexual durante el embarazo: Riesgo reproductivo predictor de bajo peso al nacer en Costa Rica. spa.
[3]	Pallitto, C.C. and O’Campo, P. (2004) The Relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy: Analysis of a National Sample from Colombia. International Family Planning Perspectives, 30, 165-173.
[4]	Castro, R. and Ruiz, A. (2004) Prevalence and Severity of Domestic Violence among Pregnant Women, Mexico. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 38, 62-70. Prevalencia y severidad de la violencia contra mujeres embarazadas, Mexico. spa.
[5]	Colombo, G., Ynoub, R.C., Viglizzo, M., Veneranda, L., Iglesias, G. and Stropparo, P. (2005) Prevalencia de casos de violencia familiar contra la mujer en la etapa de embarazo, parto y puerperio. Convergencia Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Mayo-Agosto 2005, 81-107.
[6]	Paredes-Solis, S., Villegas-Arrizon, A., Meneses-Renteria, A., Rodriguez-Ramos, I.E., Reyes-De Jesus, L. and Andersson, N. (2005) Violence during Pregnancy: A Population Based Study in Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico. Salud Pública de México, 47, 335-341. Violencia fisica intrafamiliar contra la embarazada: un estudio con base poblacional en Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico. spa.
[7]	Valladares, E., Pena, R., Persson, L.A. and Hogberg, U. (2005) Violence against Pregnant Women: Prevalence and Characteristics. A Population-Based Study in Nicaragua. BJOG, 112, 1243-1248.
[8]	Nunes, M.A., Camey, S., Ferri, C.P., Manzolli, P., Manenti, C.N. and Schmidt, M.I. (2010) Violence during Pregnancy and Newborn Outcomes: A Cohort Study in a Disadvantaged Population in Brazil. The European Journal of Public Health, 21, 92-97.
[9]	Amaro, H., Fried, L.E., Cabral, H. and Zuckerman, B. (1990) Violence during Pregnancy and Substance Use. American Journal of Public Health, 80, 575-579.
[10]	Murphy, C.C., Schei, B., Myhr, T.L. and Du Mont, J. (2001) Abuse: A Risk Factor for Low Birth Weight? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 164, 1567-1572.
[11]	Espinoza, H. and Camacho, A.V. (2005) Maternal Death Due to Domestic Violence: An Unrecognized Critical Component of Maternal Mortality. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 17, 123-129.
[12]	McFarlane, J., Parker, B. and Soeken, K. (1996) Abuse during Pregnancy: Associations with Maternal Health and Infant Birth Weight. Nursing Research, 45, 37-42.
[13]	Decker, M.R., Martin, S.L. and Moracco, K.E. (2004) Homicide Risk Factors among Pregnant Women Abused by Their Partners: Who Leaves the Perpetrator and Who Stays? Violence against Women, 10, 498-513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077801204264353
[14]	Parker, B., McFarlane, J. and Soeken, K. (1994) Abuse during Pregnancy: Effects on Maternal Complications and Birth Weight in Adult and Teenage Women. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 84, 323-328.
[15]	Kulkarni, S. (2006) Interpersonal Violence at the Crossroads between Adolescence and Adulthood: Learning about Partner Violence from Young Mothers. Violence against Women, 12, 187-207.
[16]	Bullock, L.F. and McFarlane, J. (1989) The Birth-Weight/Battering Connection. American Journal of Nursing, 89, 1153-1155.
[17]	CNEGSR, Ed. (2009) Encuesta Nacional Sobre Violencia Contra las Mujeres 2006. Centro Nacional de Equidad de Género y Salud Reproductiva, SSA, México, Distrito Federal.
[18]	Valdez-Santiago, R., Hijar-Medina, M.C., Salgado de Snyder, V.N., Rivera-Rivera, L., Avila-Burgos, L. and Rojas, R. (2006) Violence Scale and Severity Index: A Methodological Proposal for Measuring Violence by the Partner in Mexican Women. Salud Pública de México, 48, S221-S231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0036-36342006000800002
[19]	ávila-Burgos, L., Valdez-Santiago, R., Barroso-Quiab, A., Híjar, M., Rojas, R. and del Rio-Zolezzi, A. (2014) Prevalence and Factors Associated with Intimate Partner Abuse in Female Users of Public Health Services in México: A Comparative Analysis. Revista de Investigación Clínica, 66, 45-58. www.imbiomed.com.mx
[20]	Kolenikov, S. and Angeles, G. (2004) The Use of Discrete Data in PCA: Theory, Simulations, and Applications to Socioeconomic Indices. Working Paper WP-04-85, MEASURE Evaluation, Chapel Hill. http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/publications/wp-04-85
[21]	Nasir, K. and Hyder, A. (2003) Violence against Women in Developing Countries. European Journal of Public Health, 13, 105-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/13.2.105
[22]	Doubova Dubova, S.V., Pamanes-Gonzalez, V., Billings, D.L. and Torres-Arreola Ldel, P. (2007) Partner Violence against Pregnant Women in Mexico City. Revista de Saúde Pública, 41, 582-590. Violencia de pareja en mujeres embarazadas en la Ciudad de Mexico. Spa.
[23]	SSA. Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM 046-SSA2-2005 (2005) Violencia Familiar, Sexual y Contra las Mujeres. SSA. México, Distrito Federal.
[24]	Rico, E., Fenn, B., Abramsky, T. and Watts, C. (2011) Associations between Maternal Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Child Nutrition and Mortality: Findings from Demographic and Health Surveys in Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 65, 360-367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2008.081810
[25]	Kiely, M., El-Mohandes, A.A., El-Khorazaty, M.N., Blake, S.M. and Gantz, M.G. (2010) An Integrated Intervention to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 115, 273-283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181cbd482