Maternal mental health in a squatter settlement in Rio de Janeiro

Article Abstract:

The physical health of women in developing countries is receiving increased attention, but their mental health remains largely unexplored. Consequently, little is known about the mental health of mothers raising young children in developing countries. In other settings, an association between maternal mental health and child health has been documented. The present paper reports on the prevalence of mental problems among women in a squatter settlement in Rio de Janeiro and examines associated conditions. Households with mothers raising small children (under five years of age) were identified, and 460 mothers responded to a questionnaire used to assess mental health status; other variables were also collected with the questionnaire. More than 40 percent of the mothers interviewed reported tension, sadness, headaches, frights, and difficulties in thinking and making decisions. Anxiety symptoms were the most frequent and were reported by 78 percent of those with symptoms. Depression was less evident, but significantly present in these mothers, and the proportion of probable cases of mental illness was 36 percent. Factors associated with maternal mental illness were low income, poor environmental conditions (such as inadequate housing), low level of education, youth, being without a partner, having a higher number of children, and the length of time in the squatter settlement. Women born in the settlement seemed to have some protection from mental illness; for these women, living in the settlement did not mean a reduction in socioeconomic status, as it did for some women. The results have important implications for child health in developing countries; maternal mental health should be included in the primary care system in these countries. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Brazil, Poverty, Maternal and infant welfare, Infant welfare, Maternal welfare, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (City), Squatter settlements, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

---

Gender-mediated clinical features of depressive illness: the importance of temperamental differences

Article Abstract:

Gender-related differences in depression were examined among 167 males and 371 females diagnosed with clinical depression and treated at a large psychiatric clinic and affiliated clinical facilities over a two-year period. Patients with additional psychiatric, organic or neurological diagnoses were excluded from the study. The high proportion of women in the study (69 percent) reflects the greater proportions of women found in other depressive populations. The female to male ratio was four to one among patients diagnosed with recurrent depression, two to one among patients with bipolar I (depressive) disorder or single episode depression, and about even among patients diagnosed with bipolar II (manic depressive) disorder. Women had more depressive episodes and more hospital admissions for depression than men. Age at onset of depression and age at first hospital admission were similar for men and women. Males and females were also similar in terms of chronicity and stressors leading to depressive episodes. Suicide attempts were evenly distributed between the sexes. There were some gender-related temperament differences found: hypomania (mild mania) and hyperthymic (mood swing) tendencies were significantly more frequent in males, while depressive temperament was significantly more frequent in females. Women also tended to have more anxious symptoms, and to have higher scores on objective and subjective measures of melancholia such as irritability, pessimism, guilt, brooding and passivity. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Demographic aspects, Depression, Mental, Depression (Mood disorder), Sex differences

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Further change in the pattern of mental illness in the elderly. Vitamin deficiency and mental symptoms
• Abstracts: A regional pediatric approach to the epidemic of social ills within our cities
• Abstracts: Outcome of complex vascular and orthopedic injuries of the lower extremity
• Abstracts: True hermaphrodite with bilateral ovotestes, bilateral gonadoblastomas and dysgerminomas, 46, XX/46, XY karyotype, and a successful pregnancy
• Abstracts: Multiple nonmelanoma skin cancer associated with HLA DR7 in southern Australia. Tobacco, alcohol, and coffee and cancer of the pancreas: a population-based, case-control study in Quebec, Canada

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.