Experiences of Intimate Partner and Neighborhood Violence and Their Association with Mental Health in Pregnant Women

Running head: Article critique 1
EXPERIENCES OF INTIMATE PARTNER AND NEIGHBORHOOD VIOLENCE AND
THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH MENTAL HEALTH IN PREGNANT WOMEN
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Introduction
Pregnancy time is a very vulnerable time in the life of a woman. Women who are still at
the age bracket of bearing children are often exposed to high risks associated with intimate
partner violence (IPV) and violence that occur within the neighbors. IPV and neighborhood
violence have been found to have detrimental results to the mental condition of pregnant mothers
and may result in physical injury. IPV may lead to depression and increased risks of
complication associated with giving birth. Examples of IPV are emotional violence, physical
violence and sexual violence. On the other hand, neighborhood violence is also a threat to mental
health (Barcelona de Mendoza, Harville, Savage & Giarratano, 2018). Those people who
participate or observe an occurrence of violence in the neighborhood has a risk of getting
depression. Researchers on neighborhood violence have focused on other aspects and forgotten
to look into pregnant women. Available evidence has established that natural disasters contribute
to increased crime. Crime in New Orleans city has been observed to increase since the
occurrence of Hurricane Katrina.
Little research has been done on the sum outcome of lack of security within and without
the residential places for expectant women. Therefore, the sole reason for this paper was to
study how perceptions of crime and violence, both between couples and among neighbors, and
their total outcome ,may lead to serious mental health outcomes in expectant women of New
Orleans (Freeman et al. 2015). The target of this investigation is unmistakably communicated in
the mission statement. The mission statement likewise catches the setting in which the
examination was directed. The title of this article obviously conveys to the peruser the primary
goal of the article. The theoretical further elucidates facilitate on the reason articulation. This is

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additionally referred to plainly in the presentation. The presentation constructs the establishment
of the reason articulation. This empowers the peruser to see better the setting of the article.
Methods
This study was conducted from 2010 to 2012 and it targeted 398 women who resides in
city of New Orleans. These participants came from different sites. Eligible women were
supposed to have knowledge of either English or Spanish; were not supposed to be less than
eighteen years and not more than forty five years, and had visited antenatal clinic care for three
times or more. Data were collected between five and seven years after the happening of
Hurricane Katrina. The respondents were required to answer the question about their exposure to
Hurricane. Both survey questions and interviews were used to collect data. Interviews were
conducted by people who understood both English and Spanish (Murphy, 2018).
Exposure Assessment
A Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) from the Centers for
Disease and Prevention Control was used in assessing the IPV. Physical abuse at pregnancy was
examined through the help of closed-ended questions. On the other hand, the perception of
violence within the neighbors, crime, and security risks was examined using rating questions.
Finally, a sum total of exposure index was used to ascertain the general insecurity issue (Logan,
2018).
Outcome Assessment

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Depression, pregnancy-specific anxiety (PA) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
were the main outcomes. In the assessment of the symptoms of depression, the Edinburg
Postnatal Depression Scale (EDS) was utilized. Little research has been done on the sum
outcome of lack of security within and without the residential places for expectant women.
Therefore, the sole reason for this paper was to study how perceptions of crime and violence,
both between couples and among neighbors, and their total outcome ,may lead to serious mental
health outcomes in expectant women of New Orleans. The Revised Prenatal Questionnaire was
used in assessing PA while the PTSD checklist was used in the assessment of PTSD (Green et al.
2017).
Statistical Analysis
Assessment of the relationship between variables was done through the following steps;
i. Computation of descriptive data and frequency and testing of bivariate associations
using chi-square and Fisher's exact test.
ii. Unadjusted and adjusted multivariable logistic regression was used in the
examination of the association that existed between each aspect of the variables.
iii. Violence with couples and within the neighbors was placed in the same model.
iv. A cumulative measure of total violence that incorporated violence within couples and
among neighbors was calculated to find out the impact on the mental health.
All analyses conducted done using SAS 9.3.
Results