Construct Validation of Women's Marital Agency Measure and a Test of Its Association with Contraceptive Self-Efficacy (CSE) Restricted; Files Only
Gebrehanna, Hilawit (Fall 2022)
Published
Abstract
Women's empowerment is one of the most critical global targets for overcoming poverty and
ensuring well-being; however, measuring this concept remains a challenge. This study validated
assessments of marital agency as a component of women's empowerment in response to the need
for concrete quantitative measures for key problems (child marriage and forced marriage) of
Sustainable Development Goal 5.3, the elimination of all harmful practices, including child, early,
and forced marriage (IAEG-SDGs, 2017). This study analyzed baseline survey data from
CHARM2, an evaluation of a gender-synchronized family planning intervention in India that
included a measure of marital choice piloted in prior research (McDougal et al., 2018; Raj et al.,
2014). Construct validity was evaluated by testing the associations between marital agency
measures (choice of partner and choice of marital timing) and measures of disempowerment in
marriages. Disempowerment indicators considered are marital practices and experiences that can
impose restraint on women's autonomy at marriage or immediately after (e.g., child marriage) and
those that may be implicated over time (e.g., IPV). Comparisons were made using Fisher's exact
test for categorical variables and k-sample equality-of-median test for continuous variables.
Finally, a multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between marital
agency and another instrumental agency indicator, contraceptive self-efficacy (CSE). Limited
agency in the choice of partner was significantly associated with having an arranged marriage,
child marriage, dowry payments, and lower marital quality. The choice of marriage timing was
associated with all these outcomes and purdah practice. Neither indicator achieved significance in
its correlation with IPV or marital happiness. The second analysis of the marital agency indicators
and CSE was not significant. The construct analysis findings indicate that marital agency measures
are valid and can be used in future studies as tangible measures of forced marriage. However, the
weak association between marital agency and IPV, marital happiness, and CSE indicates that
marital agency has a more substantial effect on women's empowerment at marriage than over time
in marriage, implying the need to investigate further how other empowerment resources and
domains interplay in affecting the level of women's agency over time in their marriages.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Significance of study 3
Research objectives and hypothesis 3
Materials and Methods 4
Data source 4
Ethical considerations 5
Measures and analysis 5
Marital agency 5
Marital characteristics 6
Variables of construct validity 6
Marital satisfaction and safety 7
Variable of associative analysis 7
Contraceptive self-efficacy 7
Analysis 8
Results 9
Discussion 11
Conclusion 15
Reference 17
Appendix Table 1 21
Appendix Table 2 23
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