Young, Single and Not Depressed: Prevalence of Depressive Disorder Among Young Women in Rural Pakistan

Background: The prevalence of depression is very high among adult women in Pakistan but it is not known whether such a high prevalence occurs in younger women. We aimed to assess the prevalence and correlates of depression in 16 to 18-year old unmarried women in Pakistan.

Method: Population-based survey of all 16 to 18-year old unmarried women in one rural community in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. Depressive disorder and psychological distress were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID) and Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) respectively.

Results: 337 eligible women were identified of whom 321 (95%) were interviewed. Fourteen (4.4%) had depressive disorder; one third scored 9 or more on SRQ. On multivariate analysis a high SRQ score was associated with childhood experience of poverty, father's education, stressful life events, disturbed family relationships and mother's depression.

Limitations: The sample was derived from one rural community only and the results should be generalised with caution.

Conclusion: Depressive disorder is not common in young women in rural Pakistan though distress appears common and is associated with early and recent adversity and family difficulties. These results suggest future work might aim to understand onset and prevent chronic depression.