Mutisya, Redempta KalekyeNgure, KennethMwachari, Christina2023-08-022023-08-022018Mutisya, R. K., Ngure, K., & Mwachari, C. (2018). A psychosocial intervention to reduce gender-based violence and antepartum depressive symptoms in pregnant women in Kisumu County, Kenya: a quasi-experimental study. Pan African Medical Journal, 29(1), 1-9.doi:10.11604/pamj.2018.29.11.13596http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26497ArticleIntroduction: Gender-based violence during pregnancy and its associated adverse health effects are disproportionately higher in developing countries like Kenya where screening for and management of gender-based violence is currently not part of routine antenatal care. This study assessed the effect of a psychosocial intervention on gender-based violence and antepartum depressive symptoms in pregnant women. Methods: This quasi-experimental study compared gender-based violence and antepartum depression scores of 288 pregnant women in the two arms; one exposed to a psychosocial intervention and another receiving usual antenatal care. We used analysis of covariance to estimate the intervention effect and Chi-square to test the equality of proportions. Results: The difference between the psychosocial intervention and the usual antenatal care group in the total intimate partner violence and physical violence scores was a significant, with small effect sizes of partial eta = 0.196 and 0.305 respectively. The two arms did not differ in terms of the proportion of women reporting other acts of gender-based violence by intimate and non-intimate partners post-intervention. The intervention group had significantly lower mean depression scores compared to the usual care group, post-intervention, with a medium effect size of 0.500. Conclusion: This intervention aimed at reduction of gender-based violence and improvement of mental health of pregnant women is promising. Primary health care facilities in resource-constrained settings can take advantage of local capacity to deliver focused non-specialized psychosocial support to pregnant women experiencing violence.enGender-based violenceantepartum depressionpregnant womeninterventionArticle