Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Violence against women is a serious public health problem and human rights abuse.
Psychological abuse was the most common form of intimate partner violence that has not been noticed by
policymakers. The magnitude ranges up to 90% among different populations. Developing countries including
Ethiopia are at high risk of psychological abuse of women by their spouses. To the best of our knowledge, this study
is the first of its kind to exclusively quantify the magnitude of psychological spousal abuse along with the associated
factors in the country. Thus, this study aimed to assess the magnitude and associated factors of spousal psychological
abuse against pregnant women.
p value < 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression model.
RESULTS: This study found that 119 (29.1%) of pregnant women have experienced psychological abuse by
their spouses during their pregnancy period. Residence (AOR: 2.87, 95%CI: 1.11-7.39), age of partner (AOR: 2.68,
95%CI: 1.25-5.75), unwanted pregnancy (AOR: 3.55, 95%CI: 1.08-11.66), history of abortion (AOR: 2.79, 95%CI:
1.13-6.89), and mother’s age (AOR: 0.24, 95%CI: 0.11-0.50), have emerged as predictors for psychological spousal
abuse during pregnancy.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The magnitude of psychological abuse against
pregnant women by their spouses was high in this study. Socio-demographic and pregnancy-related factors were
important predictors of psychological violence. Consequently, it demands tremendous efforts to mitigate the
problem by designing effective and appropriate measures.
KEY WORDS: Psychological spousal abuse, pregnant women, Antenatal care, Ethiopia
(The Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health; 2020; 12;31-40)
1 Reproductive Health, School of Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
2 Department of Reproductive health, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar,
Gondar, Ethiopia.
3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of
Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
4 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health
Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
METHODS: This study was a facility-based cross-sectional study including 409 pregnant mothers at Debre
Markos town from March 17, 2018 – April 28, 2018. The study participants were selected using a systematic random
sampling technique. A pretested and validated questionnaire was used. Binary logistic regression was employed. The
adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used to declare statistically significant variables based on
