Abstract
BackgroundLow-income urban working mothers face many challenges in their domestic, environmental, and working conditions that may affect their mental health. In India, a high prevalence of mental health disorders has been recorded in young women, but there has been little research to examine the factors that affect their mental health at home and work.MethodsThrough a primarily qualitative approach, we studied the relationship between work, caring for family, spousal support, stress relief strategies and mental health amongst forty eight low-income working mothers residing in urban slums across Bangalore, India. Participants were construction workers, domestic workers, factory workers and fruit and vegetable street vendors. Qualitative data analysis themes included state of mental health, factors that affected mental health positively or negatively, manifestations and consequences of stress and depression, and stress mitigators.ResultsEven in our small sample of women, we found evidence of extreme depression, including suicidal ideation and attempted suicide. Women who have an alcoholic and/or abusive husband, experience intimate partner violence, are raising children with special needs, and lack adequate support for child care appear to be more susceptible to severe and prolonged periods of depression and suicide attempts. Factors that pointed towards reduced anxiety and depression were social support from family, friends and colleagues and fulfilment from work.ConclusionThis qualitative study raises concerns that low-income working mothers in urban areas in India are at high risk for depression, and identifies common factors that create and mitigate stress in this population group. We discuss implications of the findings for supporting the mental health of urban working women in the Indian context. The development of the national mental health policy in India and its subsequent implementation should draw on existing research documenting factors associated with negative mental health amongst specific population groups in order to ensure greater impact.
Highlights
Low-income urban working mothers face many challenges in their domestic, environmental, and working conditions that may affect their mental health
Mental health disorders contribute significantly to the global burden of non-communicable chronic disease: the World Health Organization has estimated that mental and behavioural disorders account for 12% of the global burden of disease [1], while community-based epidemiological studies in different settings have recorded a lifetime prevalence of mental disorders ranging from 12.2–48.6%
In India, the second most populous country in the world, approximately 31% of the total population lives in urban areas [7] and almost a quarter of urban residents live in slums [8]
Summary
Low-income urban working mothers face many challenges in their domestic, environmental, and working conditions that may affect their mental health. In India, a high prevalence of mental health disorders has been recorded in young women, but there has been little research to examine the factors that affect their mental health at home and work. Mental health disorders contribute significantly to the global burden of non-communicable chronic disease: the World Health Organization has estimated that mental and behavioural disorders account for 12% of the global burden of disease [1], while community-based epidemiological studies in different settings have recorded a lifetime prevalence of mental disorders ranging from 12.2–48.6%, Low-income urban working mothers face a range of challenges in their domestic, environmental, and working conditions that may affect their mental health. Depression was reported at higher rates amongst women (females 16.3% vs. males 13.9%) and low-income individuals (low-income group 19.3% vs. high-income group 5.9%) [15]
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