Meena Hijam and Thiyam Kiran Singh
Nagaland University-Kohima Campus, Nagalanda
Pages: 373-380
WHO report estimated that women are 2-3 times more vulnerable to experiencing
unspecified psychological distress when compared to their male counterparts.
Husbands’ use of alcohol and other drugs have been linked to adverse mental health
outcomes among women. In Manipur, the prevalence of alcohol and opioid use has
remained exceptionally high over decades and the mental health burden is also reported
to be significantly higher among women. The paper aims to study psychological distress
among female spouses of alcohol and opioid dependents and a control group comprising
of women whose husbands are not dependent on any drugs or alcohol. Further, the
study also explores the determinants of psychological distress among women. The
present study is a cross- sectional study design conducted on 207 women. Kessler
Psychological Distress scale was used to collect data from Regional Institute of Medical
Sciences, Imphal and Drug- deaddiction centers in Manipur. Descriptive statistics, ttest, chi-square and multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out in SPSS
version 26. Results: Results showed that women with alcohol and opioid dependent
husbands experience significantly higher psychological distress. Factors such as
husband’s dependence, younger age, early years of marriage and experience of physical
and/or emotional abuse had higher odds of experiencing psychological distress.
Husband’s dependence to alcohol and opioid were significantly associated with
psychological distress among women. Hence, the study underscores the need for
providing mental health services for female spouses in hospitals and drug de-addiction
centres where the husbands are seeking treatment. This will utimately help women to
adopt appropriate coping skills to deal with the distress.