Domestic Violence Against Mothers Linked to Mental Health Disorders in Indian Adolescents: Study

New Delhi:  Adolescents in India whose mothers face domestic violence are much more likely to develop anxiety and depression, stressing an urgent need for trauma-informed school programs and stronger domestic violence prevention.

A large-scale study across multiple centers found a strong link between maternal abuse and mental health problems in teenagers.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, underscore the need for school programs sensitive to trauma and improved domestic violence prevention in India.

Researchers from the cVEDA Consortium, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, and international institutes analysed nearly 2,800 mother-teen pairs.

The data was collected from seven centres across urban and rural India, examining mental health disorders among teenagers aged 12 to 17 years and psychological, physical, and sexual abuse affecting their mothers.

Mothers experiencing abuse were "significantly associated with adolescent common mental disorders, including anxiety and depression," the authors wrote.

They added, "Depressive disorders specifically were associated with physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, while anxiety disorders were associated only with physical and sexual abuse."

One in three women in India are estimated to suffer domestic violence, making them more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality. This link has been well demonstrated in Western studies, the researchers said.

Studies in India have also shown that exposure to domestic violence is related to adverse outcomes at birth, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth, as well as emotional, behavioural, and academic difficulties in children.

However, knowledge gaps remain on how maternal domestic violence impacts children's mental health, especially considering cultural aspects unique to India.

“The joint family system — a woman living with her husband’s family — can serve as a support, but also enable domestic violence directly or indirectly by exerting influence on the man,” the authors explained.

They described other culturally specific forms of abuse, stating, “Emotional violence by forcing women to return to their parental homes, physical means of resorting to stones and chemicals to inflict hurt, and controlling birth outcomes by withholding contraception until a boy is born, are some other types of domestic violence.”

The study also highlighted psychological violence, which “was found to include verbal threats and harassment, and deprivation of resources, possibly more noticed by children.”

The authors further noted, “The findings are in line with previous studies that have shown noticeable changes in the behaviour and academic performance of teens witnessing violence in their homes, indicating they are absorbing its effects.”

Adolescence is a critical period during which important milestones related to thought processes, social conduct, and personality are achieved.

“Teenage years could also thus be a period when one is vulnerable to the effects of witnessing their mother suffering domestic violence — this exposure has been studied to set the affected up for a higher chance of chronic diseases and psychological disorders,” the team said.