TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of parent-to-child maltreatment in the pathway of self-reported depressive symptoms in Pakistani adolescents
AU - Lakhdir, Maryam Pyar Ali
AU - Akber Ali, Naureen
AU - Peerwani, Ghazal
AU - Farooq, Salima
AU - Khaliq, Asif
AU - Nathwani, Apsara Ali
AU - Azam, Syed Iqbal
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded from the FHS Research Committee, Aga Khan University, Pakistan [grant number PF99/0417)]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and the funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The content is exclusively the accountability of the author and does not signify the authorized views of the funding organization.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/12/11
Y1 - 2021/12/11
N2 - Background: Parent-to-child maltreatment has been demonstrated to drastically affect a child’s mental well-being and plays a significant role in developing depressive symptoms. However, little is established about the effect of frequency of parent-to-child maltreatment on the development of depressive symptoms among Pakistani adolescents. Methods: A longitudinal prospective study was conducted, from 2015 to 2017, with 800 adolescents aged 11–17 years old recruited from 32 systematically selected urban and peri-urban areas of Karachi. First, these adolescents were screened for parent-to-child maltreatment in 2015 in a cross-sectional survey. Children with diagnosed psychiatric conditions were excluded from the study. In the second phase, these individuals were followed for 2 years to investigate the symptoms of depressive disorder using a validated tool, “CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies) Depression scale.” The Cox proportional algorithm was used to examine the relationship between the frequency of parent-to-child maltreatment and depressive symptoms. Results: Approximately 11% of frequently, 9% of occasionally parent-to-child, and 7%of negligibly maltreated adolescents reported depressive symptoms over 2 years. The other significant predictors of depressive symptoms were no formal education of the child (RR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.35–7.34), presence of stressful home environment (RR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.22–3.94), and having both uneducated parents (RR: 1.70, 95% CI: 0.90–3.21). The frequently maltreated females were found to have 4 times the higher risk compared to rarely maltreated males. In addition, frequently maltreated males were twice likely to develop depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The results suggested that frequent parent-to-child maltreatment occurring during childhood leads to the development of depressive symptoms later in the adolescence period. Thus, there is a dire need for interventions to raise awareness among the society on the issue of parent-to-child mistreatment to minimize later mental health consequences.
AB - Background: Parent-to-child maltreatment has been demonstrated to drastically affect a child’s mental well-being and plays a significant role in developing depressive symptoms. However, little is established about the effect of frequency of parent-to-child maltreatment on the development of depressive symptoms among Pakistani adolescents. Methods: A longitudinal prospective study was conducted, from 2015 to 2017, with 800 adolescents aged 11–17 years old recruited from 32 systematically selected urban and peri-urban areas of Karachi. First, these adolescents were screened for parent-to-child maltreatment in 2015 in a cross-sectional survey. Children with diagnosed psychiatric conditions were excluded from the study. In the second phase, these individuals were followed for 2 years to investigate the symptoms of depressive disorder using a validated tool, “CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies) Depression scale.” The Cox proportional algorithm was used to examine the relationship between the frequency of parent-to-child maltreatment and depressive symptoms. Results: Approximately 11% of frequently, 9% of occasionally parent-to-child, and 7%of negligibly maltreated adolescents reported depressive symptoms over 2 years. The other significant predictors of depressive symptoms were no formal education of the child (RR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.35–7.34), presence of stressful home environment (RR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.22–3.94), and having both uneducated parents (RR: 1.70, 95% CI: 0.90–3.21). The frequently maltreated females were found to have 4 times the higher risk compared to rarely maltreated males. In addition, frequently maltreated males were twice likely to develop depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The results suggested that frequent parent-to-child maltreatment occurring during childhood leads to the development of depressive symptoms later in the adolescence period. Thus, there is a dire need for interventions to raise awareness among the society on the issue of parent-to-child mistreatment to minimize later mental health consequences.
KW - adolescents
KW - depressive symptoms
KW - mental health
KW - Pakistan
KW - parent-to-child maltreatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121417493&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20551029211065614
DO - 10.1177/20551029211065614
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121417493
SN - 2055-1029
VL - 8
JO - Health Psychology Open
JF - Health Psychology Open
IS - 2
ER -
