{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T19:07:09Z","timestamp":1788894429759,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JMIR Public Health Surveill"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background<\/jats:title>\n Mental health disorders represent a growing global challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where women are disproportionately affected by social and structural inequalities. Although women\u2019s empowerment has been increasingly recognized as a strategy to improve physical health, its relationship with mental health remains less well understood.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n This study examined the association between women\u2019s empowerment and mental health symptoms among ever-married women in Bangladesh.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the 2022 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Women\u2019s empowerment was measured using the Survey-Based Women\u2019s Empowerment (SWPER) Global index across 3 domains: attitudes toward violence, social independence, and decision-making. Associations between empowerment domains and depressive symptoms, anxiety, and any mental health symptoms were assessed using multivariable logistic regression.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Empowerment in the attitudes toward violence domain was significantly associated with mental health outcomes. Women with low empowerment in this domain had higher odds of depression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.81, 95% CI 1.16-2.81), anxiety (aOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.10-1.94), and any mental health symptoms (aOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.27-2.10). No significant associations were found for the social independence or decision-making domains.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n Higher empowerment in the \u201cattitudes toward violence\u201d domain was associated with a lower prevalence of common mental health symptoms, suggesting that addressing gender-based violence norms may improve women\u2019s mental health in Bangladesh.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/85839","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,19]],"date-time":"2026-08-19T08:30:07Z","timestamp":1787128207000},"page":"e85839-e85839","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Linking Women\u2019s Empowerment to Mental Health Symptoms: Population-Based Study"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-5631-1090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maggie","family":"Craig","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-1104-5939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hannah","family":"Walter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3988-8038","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masum","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-8956-0617","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shahriar","family":"Faruque","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8649-0773","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sanjib","family":"Saha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1","unstructured":"Mental health. 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