Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence
We examined how the relationship between maternal education and child health varies across women’s status and safety using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from 24 sub-Saharan African countries. While maternal education was associated with less child stunting, wasting, and underweight, the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/324 |
| _version_ | 1797592600405868544 |
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| author | Spencer L. James Mckell A. Jorgensen Wells Ashley Larsen Gibby Jane Rose Njue Timothy M. Rarick Whitney Vogrinec John V. Rautenbach |
| author_facet | Spencer L. James Mckell A. Jorgensen Wells Ashley Larsen Gibby Jane Rose Njue Timothy M. Rarick Whitney Vogrinec John V. Rautenbach |
| author_sort | Spencer L. James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We examined how the relationship between maternal education and child health varies across women’s status and safety using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from 24 sub-Saharan African countries. While maternal education was associated with less child stunting, wasting, and underweight, the effect of maternal education on stunting and underweight was attenuated among women who experienced high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). Further, the positive influence of maternal education on stunting and underweight was less pronounced among women who lived in communities with higher levels of IPV, even after controlling for women’s own IPV. This suggests that the returns of maternal education may be dampened in the presence of IPV. The fact that this link operates at both individual and community levels underscores how gender norms, patriarchy, and gender-based violence stifle progress on children’s health. The results also demonstrate how the UN Sustainable Development Goals strengthening maternal education, improving child health, and reducing intimate partner violence must be jointly pursued and the importance of considering how child health outcomes may be tempered by context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:56:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d51fc0bd342f46d0b6589df32c0f5b29 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:56:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-d51fc0bd342f46d0b6589df32c0f5b292023-11-18T12:37:30ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-05-0112632410.3390/socsci12060324Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner ViolenceSpencer L. James0Mckell A. Jorgensen Wells1Ashley Larsen Gibby2Jane Rose Njue3Timothy M. Rarick4Whitney Vogrinec5John V. Rautenbach6School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USASchool of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USASchool of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USAHuman Development and Family Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USADepartment of Home and Family, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Rexburg, ID 83460, USASchool of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Social Work, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South AfricaWe examined how the relationship between maternal education and child health varies across women’s status and safety using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from 24 sub-Saharan African countries. While maternal education was associated with less child stunting, wasting, and underweight, the effect of maternal education on stunting and underweight was attenuated among women who experienced high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). Further, the positive influence of maternal education on stunting and underweight was less pronounced among women who lived in communities with higher levels of IPV, even after controlling for women’s own IPV. This suggests that the returns of maternal education may be dampened in the presence of IPV. The fact that this link operates at both individual and community levels underscores how gender norms, patriarchy, and gender-based violence stifle progress on children’s health. The results also demonstrate how the UN Sustainable Development Goals strengthening maternal education, improving child health, and reducing intimate partner violence must be jointly pursued and the importance of considering how child health outcomes may be tempered by context.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/324maternal educationintimate partner violencechild nutritionstuntingwastingunderweight |
| spellingShingle | Spencer L. James Mckell A. Jorgensen Wells Ashley Larsen Gibby Jane Rose Njue Timothy M. Rarick Whitney Vogrinec John V. Rautenbach Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence Social Sciences maternal education intimate partner violence child nutrition stunting wasting underweight |
| title | Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence |
| title_full | Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence |
| title_fullStr | Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence |
| title_short | Contextualizing Maternal Education and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence |
| title_sort | contextualizing maternal education and child health in sub saharan africa the role of intimate partner violence |
| topic | maternal education intimate partner violence child nutrition stunting wasting underweight |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/324 |
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