The association between physical complications following female genital cutting and the mental health of 12-year-old Gambian girls: A community-based cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Female genital cutting (FGC) involve an acute physical trauma that hold a potential risk for immediate and long-term complications and mental health problems. The aim of this study was to examine the prediction of depressive symptoms and psychological distress by the immediate and current physical complications following FGC. Further, to examine whether the age at which 12-year-old Gambian girls had undergone the procedure affected mental health outcomes.

Method

This cross-sectional study recruited 134 12-year-old girls from 23 public primary schools in The Gambia. We used a structured clinical interview to assess mental health and life satisfaction, including the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), the Symptom check list (SCL-5) and Cantril's Ladder of L

SUBMITTER: Bendiksen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7822282 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature