Background Domestic spousal violence against womenhas far-reaching mentalhealth implications. Aims To determine the association of domestic spousalviolencewith poor mentalhealth. Method In a household surveyof rural, urbannon-slumandurban slumareas from seven sites in India, the population of women aged15^49 yearswas sampled usingprobabilityproportionate

Declaration of interest None. Fundingdetailed in Acknowledgements. Mental health sequelae to spousal violence are significant and have long-term health implications. Battered women were found to have more depressive symptoms than other women (Campbell & Lewandowski, 1997). Studies have shown that the more severe the abuse, the greater its impact on a woman’s physical and mental health (Laserman et al, 1996). Recently attempts have been made in India to systematically record data on the prevalence, nature and consequences of domestic violence (Jejeebhoy, 1998). Davar’s insightful commentary on the rigidly defined roles of Indian women (Davar, 1999) outlines the barriers to expressing their stresses and conflicts; these barriers ensure that their mental health needs remain neglected. To counter the dearth of published research into this problem in India, a population-based, multicentre collaborative project, the Study of Abuse in the Family Environment (IndiaSAFE) was established in seven sites in India. This paper looks at the association of violence with poor mental health.