Patrilocality in South Asia as a determinant of maternal mental health: A scoping review

Patrilocality (post-marital residence in the husband’s natal household) is common across South Asia and shapes women’s autonomy, caregiving roles, and exposure to conflict, violence, and economic control, yet it is rarely defined or measured consistently in perinatal mental health research. We conducted a scoping review (Arksey and O’Malley; Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews [PRISMA-ScR]) of studies from South Asia and South-Asian diaspora populations published since 2000, searching eight databases and Google Scholar (last search November 2025). Thirty-two studies met inclusion criteria, spanning cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal cohorts, qualitative work, medico-legal series, intervention evaluations, and policy analyses. Evidence linked patrilocal residence and in-law co-residence to poorer maternal mental health through household status practices (for example, eating last), reduced decision-making power and mobility, relationship conflict, caregiver identity, and frequent in-law and partner violence and economic abuse. Associations with mother-in-law involvement varied by timing and conflict: some studies reported lower depressive symptoms early postpartum but higher symptoms later in conflictual households. Across studies, patrilocality was often invoked but operationalized heterogeneously (family-type categories, co-residence rosters, status markers, relationship-quality scales, or violence and economic-abuse measures), limiting comparability and obscuring patrilocality as a primary perinatal exposure. Perinatal research and services should specify residence patterns, adopt standardized measures of patrilocality and household authority, assess in-law relationship quality and violence and economic abuse, and evaluate family-centered interventions that engage supportive in-laws while addressing harmful dynamics.