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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Glob. Womens Health
Sec. Maternal Health
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1397194
This article is part of the Research Topic Influence of Intimate Partner Violence and Male Partner Involvement in Maternity Care in Low-and-Middle Income Countries View all 6 articles

Intergenerational consequences of violence: violence during pregnancy as a risk factor for infection in infancy

Provisionally accepted
Lukas Blumrich Lukas Blumrich 1*Braian L. Aguiar Sousa Braian L. Aguiar Sousa 1Marco A. Barbieri Marco A. Barbieri 2Vanda M. Ferreira Simões Vanda M. Ferreira Simões 3Antonio A. Moura Da Silva Antonio A. Moura Da Silva 3Heloisa Bettiol Heloisa Bettiol 2Alexandre A. Ferraro Alexandre A. Ferraro 1
  • 1 Department of Pediatrics, Clinical Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
  • 3 Department of Public Health, Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Psychosocial stress during pregnancy has long-lasting and important consequences in the following generations, as it can affect intrauterine development. The impact on the developing immune system is notoriously important due to the associated morbidity and mortality in the first years of life. Little attention has been given to the role of violence during pregnancy (VDP), especially its impact on infant infectious morbidity. METHODS: We analyzed data from two Brazilian birth cohorts (n=2847) in two distinct cities (Ribeirão Preto and São Luís), collected during pregnancy and at the beginning of the second year of life. The association between VDP and infection in infancy was analyzed with structural equation modeling, using the WHO-VAW questionnaire as exposure and a latent variable for infection as the outcome. RESULTS: VDP was reported by 2.48% (sexual), 11.56% (physical), and 45.90% (psychological) of the mothers. The models presented an adequate fit. In the city of São Luís, VDP was significantly associated with the latent construct for infection (standardized beta=0.182; p=0.022), while that was not the case for the Ribeirão Preto sample (standardized beta=0.113; p-0.113). Further analyses showed a gradient effect for the different dimensions of the exposure, from psychological to physical and sexual violence. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest an association of VDP with infant morbidity in a poorer socioeconomic setting, and highlight the importance of considering the different dimensions of intimate partner violence. These findings may have important implications for the comprehension of global health inequalities and of the effects of gender-based violence.

    Keywords: Domestic Violence, intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, Infection, Infancy

    Received: 07 Mar 2024; Accepted: 27 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Blumrich, Aguiar Sousa, Barbieri, Ferreira Simões, Moura Da Silva, Bettiol and Ferraro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lukas Blumrich, Department of Pediatrics, Clinical Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 01246-903, São Paulo, Brazil

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