ArticleBMC psychiatry2014
Understanding psychological distress among mothers in rural Nepal: a qualitative grounded theory exploration.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-based maternal and newborn educational care packages for improving neonatal health and survival in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Feasibility of Group Problem Management Plus (PM+) to improve mental health and functioning of adults in earthquake-affected communities in Nepal.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2020Trial
- The association between paternal labour migration and the growth of the left-behind children-evidence from a birth cohort in Dhanusha district, Nepal.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Thinking local, thinking healthy: Cultural and contextual adaptation of the Thinking Healthy Programme in Nepal.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- A qualitative study on the adaptation of community programmes for the promotion of early detection and health-seeking of perinatal depression in Nepal.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the postpartum specific anxiety scale - research short-form among iranian women (PSAS-IR-RSF).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Maternal mental health and economic autonomy in lowland rural Nepal: Do parents-in-law provide constraint or support?Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2023Article
- Adolescent perspectives on depression as a disease of loneliness: a qualitative study with youth and other stakeholders in urban Nepal.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2022Article
- Tension and Other Idioms of Distress Among Slum Dwelling Young Men: A Qualitative Study of Depression in Urban Bangladesh.Culture, medicine and psychiatry · 2022Article
- Associations of age at marriage and first pregnancy with maternal nutritional status in Nepal.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2022Article
- Traditional Healers and Mental Health in Nepal: A Scoping Review.Culture, medicine and psychiatry · 2021Article
- Traditional and biomedical care pathways for mental well-being in rural Nepal.International journal of mental health systems · 2021Article
- Perinatal mental distress in a rural Ethiopian community: a critical examination of psychiatric labels.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
- Revisiting the patriarchal bargain: The intergenerational power dynamics of household money management in rural Nepal.World development · 2018Article
- Status and determinants of intra-household food allocation in rural Nepal.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2018Article
- Culture and mental health in Nepal: an interdisciplinary scoping review.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2018Article
- Women's experiences with postpartum anxiety disorders: a narrative literature review.International journal of women's health · 2018Review
- Differentiating perceptions of intimate partner violence in Nepal.International social work · 2018Article
- Elucidating adolescent aspirational models for the design of public mental health interventions: a mixed-method study in rural Nepal.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is a large burden of psychological distress in low and middle-income countries, and culturally relevant interventions must be developed to address it. This requires an understanding of how distress is experienced. We conducted a qualitative grounded theory study to understand how mothers experience and manage distress in Dhanusha, a low-resource setting in rural Nepal. We also explored how distressed mothers interact with their families and the wider community.
methodsParticipants were identified during a cluster-randomised controlled trial in which mothers were screened for psychological distress using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). We conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with distressed mothers (GHQ-12 score ≥ 5) and one with a traditional healer (dhami), as well as 12 focus group discussions with community members. Data were analysed using grounded theory methods and a model was developed to explain psychological distress in this setting.
resultsWe found that distress was termed tension by participants and mainly described in terms of physical symptoms. Key perceived causes of distress were poor health, lack of sons, and fertility problems. Tension developed in a context of limited autonomy for women and perceived duty towards the family. Distressed mothers discussed several strategies to alleviate tension, including seeking treatment for perceived physical health problems and tension from doctors or dhamis, having repeated pregnancies until a son was delivered, manipulating social circumstances in the household, and deciding to accept their fate. Their ability to implement these strategies depended on whether they were able to negotiate with their in-laws or husbands for resources.
conclusionsVulnerability, as a consequence of gender and social disadvantage, manifests as psychological distress among mothers in Dhanusha. Screening tools incorporating physical symptoms of tension should be envisaged, along with interventions to address gender inequity, support marital relationships, and improve access to perinatal healthcare.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.