Prevalence of major depressive disorder and its determinants among young married women and unmarried girls: Findings from the second round of UDAYA survey

by Shromona Dhara, Joyeeta Thakur, Neelanjana Pandey, Arupendra Mozumdar, Subho Roy

Depression is a prevalent and debilitating mental illness affecting young women worldwide. This study aimed to identify psychosocial determinants of major depressive disorder (MDD) among young women in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India.

Data from "Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults" (UDAYA) study (2018-19) for young women aged 12-23 years, both married and unmarried was used for this paper. MDD was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 with a cut-off score of ≤10. The determinants of MDD were identified through multilevel binary logistic regression analysis.

The prevalence of MDD was 13.6% (95% CL 12.2-15.2) and 5.1% (95% CL 4.2-6.1) for young married women and unmarried girls, respectively. Among the young married women, community-level variables like dowry-related humiliation (1.74, 95% CI 1.15-2.64), and sexual assaults (2.15, 95% CI 1.24-3.73) were significantly associated with MDD. For unmarried girls, reporting of family violence _{<10% of participants} (0.45, 95% CI 0.24-0.85), family violence _{(≥10% of participants) %} (0.35 95% CI 0.19-0.68) and interpartner violence _{(>25% of participants)} (0.42; 95% CI 0.23-0.74) remain significant predictors of MDD. At individual level, for both the groups, age, participation in decision making (on education), social capital (currently attending school/educational course and number of friends), self-efficacy, telephonic harassment, and physical activity were associated with MDD. Wealth index, job seeking, participation in decision making (on health-seeking), parental interactions and physical abuse (for unmarried girls only) and education, reported last sexual intercourse, pressure from the in-laws’ to conceive (for young married women only) were associated with MDD.

For young married women, community level targeted interventions should focus on the social ecology to foster a sense of safe community environment. For unmarried girls, additionally, interventions should aim to optimize their family environment for effective mental health outcomes.