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Background The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence and associated factors of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) among married women of reproductive age in a rural population in northeast Bangladesh. In addition, we examined women’s sharing and disclosure of violence experience with others. Methods This cross-sectional study uses data from a household survey of 3966 women conducted in 2014 in the Sylhet District of Bangladesh. Interviews were completed in respondent’s homes by trained local female interviewers. Results Twenty-nine percent (28.8%, 95% CI 27.4–30.3%) of the women reported ever experiencing physical or sexual IPV by their spouse; 13.2% (95% CI 12.1–14.3%) reported physical or sexual IPV in the past year. Of the 13.2%, 10.1% (95% CI 9.2–11.1%) reported experiencing physical IPV and 4.6% (95% CI 4.0–5.3%) reported sexual IPV. In a combined model, the adjusted odds of having experienced physical or sexual IPV in the past year were higher for women who were raised in households with history of IPV (AOR = 4.35, 95% CI 3.26–5.80); women with no formal education (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.30–2.37); women whose husbands had no formal education (AOR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.22–2.17); Muslim (AOR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.03–2.57); women younger than age 30 (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.11–2.12); and women who were members of an NGO or microcredit financial organization (AOR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.04–1.82). Wealth, parity, number of household members, and pregnancy status (pregnant, postpartum, neither pregnant nor postpartum) were not associated with physical or sexual IPV after adjusting for other factors. Data on disclosure was available for women who reported experiencing physical violence in the last year; only 31.8% of victims told someone about the violence they had experienced and 1% reported to police, clerics, health workers, or a counselor altogether. Conclusions In rural northeast Bangladesh, a high proportion of women of reproductive age experience physical or sexual IPV. Women do not often speak of these experiences, especially to anyone outside of family. Interventions aimed at preventing future IPV and addressing current IPV should focus on women who witnessed IPV in childhood, as well as younger women and less educated couples. Trial registration This study was registered as a Clinical Trial (Identifier: NCT01702402). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01702402

Background Adolescent pregnancy is a worldwide problem because of its health, social, economic and political repercussions on the globe. Even though the rates of adolescent pregnancy have declined over the decade, there is still unacceptably high rates especially in lower and middle-income countries including Ghana. Although the problem has been widely investigated, there is little information on the effectiveness of different methods to improve adolescent sexual abstinence based on theoretical models. This study is aimed to assess an educational intervention program on sexual abstinence based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) among adolescent girls in Northern Ghana. Methods A cluster randomized control trial was conducted in Ghana from April to August 2018. Participants within the ages of 13–19 years were enrolled voluntarily from six randomly selected Senior High Schools (3 for intervention and 3 for control). A total of 363 adolescent were enrolled. A self-structured questionnaire was administered to both groups of participants at baseline and endpoint of the study. Control participants received their normal classes whiles the intervention group additionally received comprehensive sexuality education for 1 month. Qualified midwives conducted the health education program. At least two sessions were conducted for each participating class weekly. The lessons focused on perceived susceptibility, perceived severity of adolescent pregnancy, perceived benefits, perceived barriers to adolescent pregnancy prevention, personal and family values, perceived self-efficacy and knowledge of contraceptives. Educational strategies such as discussions, demonstrations, role-play and problem solving techniques were used to deliver the lessons. Sexual abstinence was the outcome variable of the study and it was measured after 3 months of the intervention. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the impact of the intervention on sexual abstinence practice. Results At baseline, there was no difference between control and intervention groups. The mean score of Knowledge and attitude for control were (58.17 and 139.42) and intervention (60.49 and 141.36) respectively. Abstinence practice was 69.4% for control and 71.6% in the intervention group. However, after the intervention, the mean score of knowledge and attitude for control were (87.58 and 194.12) respectively. Sexual abstinence in the control was 84.4% and intervention was 97.3% respectively. The educational interventions resulted in a significant difference in sexual abstinence between intervention and control groups (OR = 13.89, 95% Confidence Interval (2.46–78.18, P

Background Monitoring and evaluation of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs is critical to facilitating learning and providing accountability to stakeholders. As part of an inter-agency effort to develop recommendations on MHPSS monitoring and evaluation, this scoping review aimed to identify the terminology and focus of monitoring and evaluation frameworks in this field. Methods We collected program documents (logical frameworks (logframes) and theories of change) from members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on MHPSS, and systematically searched the peer-reviewed literature across five databases. We included program documents and academic articles that reported on monitoring and evaluation of MHPSS in low- and middle-income countries describing original data. Inclusion and data extraction were conducted in parallel by independent reviewers. Thematic analysis was used to identify common language in the description of practices and the focus of each monitoring and evaluation framework. Logframe outcomes were mapped to MHPSS activity categories. Results We identified 38 program documents and 89 peer-reviewed articles, describing monitoring and evaluation of a wide range of MHPSS activities. In both program documents and peer-reviewed literature there was a lack of specificity and overlap in language used for goals and outcomes. Well-validated, reliable instruments were reported in the academic literature, but rarely used in monitoring and evaluation practices. We identified six themes in the terminology used to describe goals and outcomes. Logframe outcomes were more commonly mapped to generic program implementation activities (e.g. “capacity building”) and those related to family and community support, while outcomes from academic articles were most frequently mapped to specialized psychological treatments. Conclusions Inconsistencies between the language used in research and practice and discrepancies in measurement have broader implications for monitoring and evaluation in MHPSS programs in humanitarian settings within low- and middle-income countries. This scoping review of the terminology commonly used to describe monitoring and evaluation practices and their focus within MHPSS programming highlights areas of importance for the development of a more standardized approach to monitoring and evaluation.

Background Youth in conflict and post-conflict settings are exposed to a variety of potentially-traumatic events that impact their mental health and well-being. The purposes of this study were to examine coping strategies among conflict-affected youth exposed to potentially-traumatic events and the relationship to psychological symptoms and well-being in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Methods A total of 434 male and female youth (ages 10–15 years) completed data collection with a trained Congolese interviewer. The survey instrument included measures of exposure to potentially traumatic events, an adapted coping strategies checklist, and measures of psychosocial distress and well-being. Exploratory factor analyses was used to identify coping strategies and Hierarchical regression was used to assess how coping strategies were associated with psychological symptoms including internalizing and externalizing problems and well-being outcomes including prosocial behavior and self-esteem. Results Exploratory Factor analysis suggested four coping strategies; problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidance and faith-based strategies. Problem-focused coping strategies were associated with greater internalizing and externalizing problems and lower prosocial behavior in both boys and girls. However, when problem-focused strategies were used with emotion-focused coping strategies, the result was fewer internalizing problems in girls and fewer externalizing problems in boys and girls. Emotion-focused, avoidance and faith based strategies were associated with better self-esteem. Conclusion These results suggest a complex relationship between coping strategies, psychological symptoms and well-being and contradict evidence that problem-focused strategies benefit mental health while emotion-focused strategies harm mental health, particularly in conflict and post-conflict settings. The results suggest coping flexibility, or use of multiple coping strategies may be particularly useful to improving mental health and well-being. The need for context specific understandings of coping strategies in conflict-affected populations is highlighted by the results of the study.

BACKGROUND: Genes and signalling pathways involved in pluripotency have been studied extensively in mouse and human pre-implantation embryos and embryonic stem (ES) cells. The unsuccessful attempts to generate ES cell lines from other species including cattle suggests that other genes and pathways are involved in maintaining pluripotency in these species. To investigate which genes are involved in bovine pluripotency, expression profiles were generated from morula, blastocyst, trophectoderm and inner cell mass (ICM) samples using microarray analysis. As MAPK inhibition can increase the NANOG/GATA6 ratio in the inner cell mass, additionally blastocysts were cultured in the presence of a MAPK inhibitor and changes in gene expression in the inner cell mass were analysed. RESULTS: Between morula and blastocyst 3,774 genes were differentially expressed and the largest differences were found in blastocyst up-regulated genes. Gene ontology (GO) analysis shows lipid metabolic process as the term most enriched with genes expressed at higher levels in blastocysts. Genes with higher expression levels in morulae were enriched in the RNA processing GO term. Of the 497 differentially expressed genes comparing ICM and TE, the expression of NANOG, SOX2 and POU5F1 was increased in the ICM confirming their evolutionary preserved role in pluripotency. Several genes implicated to be involved in differentiation or fate determination were also expressed at higher levels in the ICM. Genes expressed at higher levels in the ICM were enriched in the RNA splicing and regulation of gene expression GO term. Although NANOG expression was elevated upon MAPK inhibition, SOX2 and POU5F1 expression showed little increase. Expression of other genes in the MAPK pathway including DUSP4 and SPRY4, or influenced by MAPK inhibition such as IFNT, was down-regulated. CONCLUSION: The data obtained from the microarray studies provide further insight in gene expression during bovine embryonic development. They show an expression profile in pluripotent cells that indicates a pluripotent, epiblast-like state. The inability to culture ICM cells as stem cells in the presence of an inhibitor of MAPK activity together with the reported data indicates that MAPK inhibition alone is not sufficient to maintain a pluripotent character in bovine cells.

Background Genes and signalling pathways involved in pluripotency have been studied extensively in mouse and human pre-implantation embryos and embryonic stem (ES) cells. The unsuccessful attempts to generate ES cell lines from other species including cattle suggests that other genes and pathways are involved in maintaining pluripotency in these species. To investigate which genes are involved in bovine pluripotency, expression profiles were generated from morula, blastocyst, trophectoderm and inner cell mass (ICM) samples using microarray analysis. As MAPK inhibition can increase the NANOG/GATA6 ratio in the inner cell mass, additionally blastocysts were cultured in the presence of a MAPK inhibitor and changes in gene expression in the inner cell mass were analysed. Results Between morula and blastocyst 3,774 genes were differentially expressed and the largest differences were found in blastocyst up-regulated genes. Gene ontology (GO) analysis shows lipid metabolic process as the term most enriched with genes expressed at higher levels in blastocysts. Genes with higher expression levels in morulae were enriched in the RNA processing GO term. Of the 497 differentially expressed genes comparing ICM and TE, the expression of NANOG, SOX2 and POU5F1 was increased in the ICM confirming their evolutionary preserved role in pluripotency. Several genes implicated to be involved in differentiation or fate determination were also expressed at higher levels in the ICM. Genes expressed at higher levels in the ICM were enriched in the RNA splicing and regulation of gene expression GO term. Although NANOG expression was elevated upon MAPK inhibition, SOX2 and POU5F1 expression showed little increase. Expression of other genes in the MAPK pathway including DUSP4 and SPRY4, or influenced by MAPK inhibition such as IFNT, was down-regulated. Conclusion The data obtained from the microarray studies provide further insight in gene expression during bovine embryonic development. They show an expression profile in pluripotent cells that indicates a pluripotent, epiblast-like state. The inability to culture ICM cells as stem cells in the presence of an inhibitor of MAPK activity together with the reported data indicates that MAPK inhibition alone is not sufficient to maintain a pluripotent character in bovine cells. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1448-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.