Exposure to stress-full life events and help-seeking behaviors among reproductive-age women in Northwest Ethiopia: Community-based cross-sectional study

Techilo Tinsae, Shegaye Shumet, Telake Azale, Endalamew Salelaw, Demeke Demilew, Alemu Lema, Girum Nakie, Fantahun Andualem, Mengesha Srahbzu, Tadele Amare, Wondale Getinet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Stressful life events are a significant public health issue worldwide. Despite its mental, psychological, and social problems, important questions about the prevalence and risk factors remained unanswered. Therefore, this study aimed to show major life events and help-seeking behaviors among women in the reproductive-age group. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted using a multistage cluster sampling technique to get a total of 845 study participants from March 20 to April 29, 2021. Exposure to stressful life events and help-seeking behavior was collected using Women's Exposure to the Stressful Life Events Test, and General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHQ) respectively. Data were cleaned, coded, and entered into EPI-Info version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The prevalence of stressful life events and help-seeking behaviors was 47.9 % and 38.7 % respectively. Reproductive-age women with poor social support (AOR =2.392, 95 % CI: 1.422, 4.026), moderate social support (AOR =1.861, 95 % CI: 1.341, 2.583), husband alcohol users (AOR =1.496, 95 % CI: 1.027, 2.178), husband chat users (AOR =2.962, 95 % CI: 1.140, 7.696), and having ever suicidal attempt (AOR =8.702, CI: 1.719, 44.049), were positively associated with stressful life events. Conclusion: Nearly half of reproductive-age women had stressful life events. Thus, it is important to give serious attention to addressing those identified factors to increase public awareness, especially among husbands, their families, and elected authorities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)310-316
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Affective Disorders
Volume346
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Stressful life events
  • Life events
  • Life-change events
  • Reproductive-age women
  • Help-seeking behaviors

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