Intimate partner violence among Jordanian pregnant women and its predictors.
Sanaa Abujilban, Lina Mrayan, Jalal K Damra
PMID 34582131WHAT IT FOUND
Jordanian pregnant women reported less physical, psychological and sexual IPV during pregnancy than before it, but 66% still had psychological and 31.2% physical IPV.
Older age, verbal fighting, lower education of woman or husband, and poor mutual understanding predicted physical IPV.
Key findings
01Psychological, physical and sexual IPV scores were significantly lower during pregnancy than before pregnancy.
02During pregnancy, 66% of women reported psychological IPV, 31.2% reported physical IPV and 8.9% reported sexual IPV.
03Physical IPV was associated with higher women's age and more verbal fighting, and with lower women's education, lower husband's education and lower mutual understanding.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was convenience sampled from one hospital and was not representative of ever-married women in Jordan. IPV was self-reported retrospectively, so recall bias and under-reporting because of stigma or social desirability are possible. The cross-sectional design can show associations but cannot prove that any factor caused IPV or that pregnancy caused violence to decrease. Women who could not read and write Arabic were excluded, so the findings apply only to women able to complete the questionnaire.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. No funding source is stated in the article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pregnancy protects women from IPV or that a decrease in IPV scores means violence has stopped. Women still reported high levels of controlling, psychological and physical IPV during pregnancy, and the study cannot show why scores changed or whether any intervention works.