ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Glob. Women’s Health
Sec. Maternal Health
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological Trauma of Women and Children: The Role of Mindfulness and Compassion in Prevention and TreatmentsView all 4 articles
Associations Between Domestic Violence and Psychosomatic Symptoms and Health Behaviors During Pregnancy and the Puerperium: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco1*
Ana Bertha Zavalza-Gómez1Andrea Meza-Martínez1Sergio JIRAM Vázquez-Sánchez1Evelin Castillo-Martínez1Samantha Emily González-Muñoz1Andrea García1Kathia Morfin Meza1Alejandro González-Ojeda1Gabino Cervantes-Guevara2Enrique Cervantes-Pérez3Sol Ramírez-Ochoa3
Alejandro Gonzalez-Ojeda1Ana Olivia Cortés-Flores4Guadalupe Castillo Cardiel1Alejandro Ramirez Velazquez1- 1Western National Medical Center, Guadalajara, Mexico
- 2University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 3Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 4Onkimia, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
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Background: According to the WHO, violence is the intentional use of force or power against oneself, another person, or a community, causing injury, death, or harm. National data from 2021 reveal that as many as 70.1% of women in Mexico have experienced some form of violence. Pregnancy represents a period of heightened vulnerability, with negative impacts on material and infant health. Material and Methods. This cross-sectional observational study was conducted on women during the immediate postpartum period. Domestic violence was assessed using the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) scale, the Affective Bonding and Prenatal Adjustment Assessment Scale survey, and postpartum depression was evaluated through the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) scale. Results. Four hundred women were included using the short version of the WAST scale, with 31.5% (126) testing positive for the screening questions. Women who experienced abuse showed higher odds of postpartum depression (OR= 2.95; 95% IC: 1.87-4.63; p= 0.000) and tobacco use (OR= 2.28; 95% IC: 1.31-3.94; p= 0.003). Adverse perinatal effects, such as preterm delivery (35.7%), admission to intensive care (40.5%), and low birth weight (19.8%), were frequent but without statistical significance. Conclusions. One-third of the pregnant women in the study suffered intimate partner violence, mainly psychological and economic. Unwanted pregnancy, lack of emotional bonding, postpartum depression, alcohol/smoking, and low education levels were frequent factors.
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Postpartum Period, Pregnancy, Preterm Birth, psychosomatic
Received: 08 Jan 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fuentes-Orozco, Zavalza-Gómez, Meza-Martínez, Vázquez-Sánchez, Castillo-Martínez, González-Muñoz, García, Morfin Meza, González-Ojeda, Cervantes-Guevara, Cervantes-Pérez, Ramírez-Ochoa, Gonzalez-Ojeda, Cortés-Flores, Castillo Cardiel and Ramirez Velazquez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco
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