RESEArch: psychology

Introduction: Domestic violence (DV) / Intimate partner violence (IPV) are worldwide problems, which affect women across socioeconomic strata. The National Family Health Survey -4 (NFHS-4) (2015-2016) of India conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, reports 31% rural and 24% urban Indian women have experienced spousal violence. For the state of Haryana, these percentages are 37% and 25% respectively. For the National Capital Territories including Delhi and adjoining areas, 27% urban women report spousal violence, where as no data is available for rural women in this area. While the NFHS-4 has provided district level and fairly recent data on these aspects, it provides no data on the effects on spousal violence or domestic violence on long term mental heath outcomes of survivors. My research explores domestic violence as a chronic stressor and its direct effects on depression, anxiety and PTSD scores in rural women and adolescents in Haryana as an overarching theme. We have interview teams working in Sonipat and Panipat districts for now, wishing to expand this study to statewide level with time.

In a pilot study with female housekeeping, janitorial and kitchen staff at Ashoka University ( all of whom are hired by subcontractors recruiting from neighboring villages), we found small, yet significant positive correlations between the incidence of domestic violence and depression, anxiety and PTSD scores. This provided the roots for a much bigger study underway now where we are asking, probably for the first time in India, in a community mental health setting, nuanced questions about specific contributions of physical, sexual and emotional abuse to deterioration of mental health in ever married women in Haryana (18-65yrs of age). We use semi-structured interview questionnaires in the field that have been contextualized to the local culture. We use a set of complex statistical and mathematical tools for our analysis.

A second arm of the study aims to develop covert, indirect markers of incidence of domestic abuse. The need for this became apparent as soon as we started talking to rural women, a nontrivial fraction of who were very reluctant to talk about their history of abuse.

A third arm of the study aims to study the male perspective into the domestic violence which is rampant in this demographic. the goals are to learn what behaviors are predictive of spousal violence.

Future goals for this project:

To expand the existing study into a statewide initiative

To understand the process of internalization of abuse in women in this demographic as part and parcel of marriage using various cognitive, behavioral and sociocultural approaches

To develop and implement interventions to successfully help the survivors to cope with their mental health problems

To initiate fMRI studies with domestic violence survivors to explore neural correlates

To ramify the study and conduct a study of rural adolescents who grow up witnessing such violence in the household, and address the effects on their mental health as well as their perception of domestic violence

In our country single parenthood poses unique chanllenges not only to the parent but the children as well. Studies worldwide have shown that children from traditional but discordant homes fare worse in a battery of psychological indices later in life compared to children who grow up in single parent homes. However, a large part of the general populace in India, even now harbor a completely opposite belief. This project addesses two specific questions

Among the affluent social class, does resilience and empathy differ among

• Young adults who grew up in single parent homes
• Young adults who grew up in homes where they witnessed some form of domestic violence or abuse.