Depression and Behavioral Problems Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women Employees of the Textile Industry in India

Abstract

Stress and depression are common in textile industry employees due to inadequate working conditions and challenging socioeconomic conditions. The objective of the study was to assess depression and mental health among adolescent and young females currently employed in a textile factory located in Tamil Nadu compared with past employees and women who have never been employed. This cross-sectional study included a total of 107 participants in each study group who were interviewed. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were administered to screen participants for depression and mental health. More current employees (16.82%) and past employees (15.88%) suffered from depression severe enough to require treatment compared with never employed girls and young women (2.8%). Of the study participants, 59.8% of current employees, 63.6% of past employees, and 32.7% of never employed women had mental health or behavior problems. In the regression model, history of abuse was significantly associated with depression. Participants who were current employees and reported family debt and a history of abuse were significantly more likely to have mental health or behavior problems. Mental health issues such as depression and behavior problems were more likely among adolescent girls currently employed in textile industries. Further studies into the causes of this phenomenon are needed.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Suicidal Ideation among Almeda Textile Factory Workers in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In this study, the prevalence of suicidal ideation was found to be 8.8% (95% CI: 6.1-11.8). This is lower than the study carried out in Vietnam (12.5%) [ 5 ] and in India (29.9%) [ 4 ]. The possible reasons of variation in Vietnam might be the cultural variability and the measurement tool they used; CIDI was used in this study, whereas a general health questionnaire (PHQ) was used both in Vietnam and India.…”

“…In studies done in India and Vietnam, the prevalence of suicidal ideation in the textile and garment industry workers was 29.9% and 12.5% in [ 4 , 5 ], respectively. In Northwest Ethiopia at Bahir Dar, 76.7% of the employee had suicidal thoughts of whom 14.9% had suicidal behavior [ 6 ].…”

“…Mental health of textile industry workers and work place have a complex relationship related to job insecurity, time structure, social contact, payment, and other organizational variables. Studies showed that employee in a textile industry experienced suicidal ideation associated with a variety determinant variables such as job-related physical harm/injuries [ 8 ], job strain, long/abnormal working hours, interpersonal conflict, bullying, low salary, job unhappiness [ 4 , 7 , 9 ], and poor social capital [ 10 ].…”

The Paradoxical Impacts of the Minimum Wage Implementation on Ready-made Garment (RMG) Workers: A Qualitative Study

“…The study explored that instead of reducing RMG workers’ ongoing turmoil (such as excessive workload, long working hours, physical and verbal abuses, anxiety, depression, health and safety issues, and other personal restrictions and withholding of pay in the workplace settings) (Khan et al 2020 ; Alamgir and Banerjee 2019 ; Parvin et al 2018 ), the new minimum wage added further workload/work pressure, extreme abuse, a revised production target, and mental stress in the workplace settings. Along with fewer sleeping hours (due to excessive work pressure, extended working hours, and daily productions target), the participants were stressed, scared of being scolded, beaten, and fearful of losing their jobs if they failed to fulfil the production target; a definite impact on the workers’ psychological health status similarly to what has been revealed in previous studies (Gnanaselvam and Joseph 2018 ; Sinkovics et al 2016 ; Steinisch et al 2013 ). The study findings are consistent with a prior study conducted in 2011, immediately after the implementation of the previous minimum wage agreement in the Bangladesh RMG sector, where the overwhelming majority of the respondents (92%) said they had targets to fulfil, their (82%) production targets had been increased, and that they feared losing their job in case of the failure to fulfil targets (Fair Wear Foundation 2012 ).…”

The impact of harmfulness in work process on safety and health of employed women with regard to the textile industry

“…Pored mokroklime, kao najčešći faktori neadekvatnih uslova rada u procesima industrijske proizvodnje, kao i njihov uticaj na zaposlene, izdvajaja se izloženost visokim nivoima buke [20][21][22][23][24], vibracijama [25] i ergonomskim rizicima [26,27], kao i nesreć ama koje uključuju korišćenje mašina i opreme za rad. Negativni uticaj hemijskih supstanci na zdravstveno stanje zaposlenih žena, koje su prisustne u sve većim količinama u procesu proizvodnje i obrade tkanina, iz godine u godinu se povećava, što se može uvideti iz sprovedenih studija brojnih autora [28][29][30][31][32].…”