Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Young Female Doctors is Associated with High Sexual Harassment Scores

Abstract

Background: Sexual harassment, a known cause of stress in females, makes them vulnerable to mental health issues and affects their professional performance. The objectives of the study were to assess the frequency of sexual harassment among female doctors based on age, designation, marital status, and household income, and to find out the association between sexual harassment and depression, anxiety, and stress in female doctors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at three tertiary care hospitals of Rawalpindi. on n=328 female doctors including House officers, Post Graduate Trainees, Senior Registrars, Assistants, Associates and Full Professors. We used the Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale to assess sexual harassment and depression, anxiety and stress scores, p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of 301 female doctors was 30.12±7.8 years, equally represented from public and private hospitals. Mostly were married 154 (51.2%), working as House Officers 126(41.9%), The mean score on the Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire was 48.23±14.84, with higher scores (52.83±16.2) in unmarried females (≤30 years), working in junior levels in public sector hospitals (p=0.001). A significant positive correlation (0.471) between the Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale scores was observed.

Conclusion: The incidences of sexual harassment were seen more in younger, unmarried junior female doctors. Higher Depression, Anxiety and Stress were found positively associated with higher Sexual Harassment scores. Hospitals should develop policies to protect female healthcare workers especially junior doctors, to minimize workplace sexual harassment negativity on mental health.

Keywords: Sexual Harassment; Depression; Anxiety; Female; Hospitals.