Path Analysis Association between Domestic Violence, Anxiety, Depression and Perceived Stress in Mothers and Children’s Development

OBJECTIVE Given that several factors involved in the incidence or exacerbation of developmental disorders in children, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between some of the risk factors affecting mothers' health and development in children using path analysis. MATERIALS & METHODS The present cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 750 mothers and their children in health centers in Tehran, Iran in 2014 enrolled through multi-stage random sampling. Data were collected using a demographic and personal information questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, Beck's depression Inventory, Spielberger' anxiety inventory, the WHO domestic violence questionnaire and an ages & stages questionnaire for assessing children's development. Data were analyzed using SPSS.19 (Chicago, IL, USA) and Lisrel 8.8. RESULTS Developmental delay was observed in 12.1% of the children. The mean stress score was 23.94±8.62 in the mothers, 50.7% of whom showed mild to severe depression, 84.2% moderate to severe anxiety and 35.3% had been subjected to domestic violence. The path analysis showed that children's development was affected directly by perceived stress (β=-0.09) and depression (β=-0.17) and indirectly by domestic violence (β=-0.05278) and anxiety (β=-0.0357). Of all the variables examined, depression had the biggest influence on development in the children (β=-0.17). The proposed model showed a good fit (GFI=1, RMSEA=0.034). CONCLUSION Children's development was influenced indirectly by domestic violence and anxiety and directly by perceived stress and depression in mothers. It is thus suggested that more concern and attention be paid to women's mental health and the domestic violence they experience.