Blood Ties and Mental Health: The Effect of Consanguineous Marriageson Depression and Anxiety

Objective: To determine the prevalence of consanguineous and non-consanguineous marriages in two significant cognitive health conditions, severe depression and anxiety. It also determines the association between Anxiety and Depression Scores with type of marriage, family structure and socioeconomic status.Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 170 participants were selected from the clinical OPD of CBC Healthcare Centre. Participants were aged 18-50 years recruited from different public and private universities in Karachi through purposive convenience sampling. Self-reported measurement instruments, Patient Health (PHQ-9) and GAD-7 Anxiety Questionnaires, were used to measure levels of anxiety and depression. To measure symptoms of depression and anxiety an independent samples t-test compared mean scores between groups in consanguineous and non-consanguineous marriages, and Pearson correlation test determined whether there was a connection between GAD and MD.Results: Results indicated a significant correlation between MD and GAD, with consanguineous marriage individuals having considerably higher rates of both disorders than those in non-consanguineous marriages. Participants of consanguineous marriages (n=103) had significantly higher mean scores for both anxiety (M=11.04, SD=5.58) and depression (M=12.09, SD=6.90) than participants of nonconsanguineous marriages (anxiety: M=7.06, SD=5.32, p<.001; depression: M=8.29, SD=6.11, p<.001). There was a significant positive correlation between (GAD-7) and PHQ-9 scores (r=.838, p<.001).Conclusion: This is the study to examine the impacts of consanguinity on GAD and MD together, highlighting the complex interplay between genetic vulnerability and mental illness in a culturally contextualized setting. The results show that there is a strong correlation between the incidence of consanguineous marriages and adverse mental health outcomes, highlighting the necessity for integrated genetic counseling and mental health care in public health interventions for affected populations.