Husbands and Mothers-in-law as Perpetrators of Domestic Aggression against Married Women in Pakistan

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the behaviours of husbands and mothers-in-law as perpetrators of domestic aggression against married women in Pakistan, and mental health symptoms associated with victimisation from these behaviours. Domestic aggression in the jointfamily system of South Asia is a deep-rooted, culturally supported problem, which has received little scientific attention. The four studies included in the current thesis aim at reducing this research gap, at least to some extent. The participants of the studies were 569 married women living in the federal capital, Islamabad and two provincial capitals: Karachi, and Lahore of Pakistan. Three types of aggression: physical, verbal, and indirect social manipulation, perpetrated by the husbands and the mothers-in-law, were investigated. Controlling behaviour exerted by them against the wife of the house was also investigated, and aggression perpetrated as a means of pressure for the demand of more dowry was another topic that was studied. Symptoms of mental health problems associated with the victimisation from these types of behaviour were investigated; more specifically, symptoms of anxiety, depression, somatisation, and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Study I: The aim of study was to compare associations between three types of female victimisation from intimate partner aggression (IPA) and heir mental health concomitants. A questionnaire was completed by 569 relatively well-educated women in Pakistan (97.3% had at least a Bachelor’s degree). The mean age was 31.4 years (SD 9.1), and the age range was between 18 and 70 years. The questionnaire included scales for measuring victimisation from physical aggression, verbal aggression, and indirect aggressive social manipulation perpetrated by the husband against the wife, and four subscales from the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI): depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and somatisation. Victimisation from verbal aggression was the most common type, followed by indirect aggression, while physical aggression was the least common. All three types of IPA were significantly associated with all four BSI subscales and most strongly with indirect aggression, while physical aggression showed the weakest associations. Study II: The aim of the study was to investigate victimisation of married Pakistani women from aggression perpetrated by their mothersin-law, and its psychological concomitants. The sample was the same as in Study I, and the data collection happened at the same time with the same questionnaire. Mothers-in-law perpetrated more verbal and indirect aggression than physical aggression against their daughters-in-law. Anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and somatisation were all associated with aggression perpetrated by the mothers-in-law. The mothers-in-law had significantly more often than the husbands perpetrated indirect aggression against the daughters-in-law, while the husbands had perpetrated both physical and verbal aggression against their wife significantly more often than the mothers-in-law. It was concluded that aggression perpetrated by mothers-in-law is a significant problem and associated with mental health problems in married Pakistani women. Study III: The aim of the study was to investigate mental health concomitants related to controlling behaviours perpetrated by husbands and mothers-in-law against wives in Pakistan. The sample was the same as in the other studies. The women were significantly more often victimised from controlling behaviours perpetrated by the husband than by the mother-in-law. The age of the wife did not correlate with the frequency of controlling behaviours exerted by the husband but was negatively correlated with controlling behaviours perpetrated by the mother-in-law. Women who were frequently victimised by both the husband and the mother-in-law reported significantly higher scores on anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and somatisation than others. Those who were infrequently victimised by both the husband and the mother-in-law reported the significantly lowest scores on the same variables. Victimisation from controlling behaviours were associated with psychological concomitants. Victimisation from both the husband and the mother-in-law simultaneously showed the highest association with psychological problems. Study IV: The aim of the study was to investigate victimisation from dowry-related aggression and mental health concomitants in a sample of educated women in Pakistan. The sample was the same as in the other studies. The questionnaire included two scales for measuring dowryrelated aggression and four scales for measuring mental health concomitants. The levels of victimisation from dowry-related aggression were relatively low in the sample. Aggression carried out by the husband and the mother-in-law correlated highly with each other. The most common single act by both husbands and mothers-in-law was forcing the wife to give her gold to her mother-in-law or sister-in-law. Women who were more than average victimised from dowry-related aggression had significantly higher scores on anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and somatisation. Aggression carried out by the mother-in-law showed higher predictive power on all four mental health concomitants than aggression by the husband. Somatic symptoms of the daughter-in-law showed the highest association with aggression carried out by the motherin-law. Victimisation from dowry-related aggression was strongly associated with negative mental health outcomes. Aggression carried out by the mother-in-law was more strongly associated with these negative outcomes than aggression carried out by the husband