Mental health, stressful life events, and abuse in Nicaraguan women

Abstract

The objectives of this article were to analyze the occurrence of stressful life events (SLE), to establish profiles based on the said events by means of classification through cluster analysis, to establish the relationship between the groups obtained and the presence of distress, and to analyze which SLE seem to have had a greater impact on the mental health of 136 women victims of gender violence living in a context of extreme poverty in Nicaragua. The results showed the existence of high levels of depression and anxiety, especially within the group that suffered abuse in their childhood, and that economic problems, the death of people in the family environment and suicide attempts seem to be the SLE that have the greatest influence on the levels reached for the identification of such depressive and anxiety symptoms, above the abuse suffered throughout their lives. In conclusion, learning about SLE in contexts where their occurrence is frequent is essential for intervention with women for whom adversity has become chronic.