Involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity among women in sub-Saharan African countries: an assessment of the moderating role of women’s education
Involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity among women in sub-Saharan African countries: an assessment of the moderating role of women’s education
A considerable number of married women in sub-Saharan African countries are childless and may be likely to engage in marital infidelity to avoid social stigma, economic insecurities, and other debilitating experience associated with being involuntarily childless. This study sought to investigate the relationship between involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity and how it may be moderated by women’s educational attainment. Data were obtained from 23,847 women in their first union for at least 2 years and participated in the demographic and health surveys of five sub-Saharan African countries comprising Cameroon, Gabon, Lesotho, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for socioeconomic, union, and partner characteristics. Involuntarily childless women in Cameroon (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI 1.62–3.39) and Sierra Leone (AOR: 2.22, 95% CI 1.42–3.49) were about two times more likely to engage in marital infidelity compared to non-childless married women. In Gabon, Lesotho, and Liberia, the odds of marital infidelity did not significantly differ between involuntarily childless and non-childless married women. Although involuntarily childless women with secondary or higher education reported higher levels of marital infidelity than non-childless women with a similar level of education, we found no statistical evidence in all the countries that the relationship between involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity was moderated by women’s educational attainment. These findings suggest that involuntary childlessness is a critical factor potentially related to marital infidelity and may be an important target for intervention and prevention, particularly in settings with high levels of sexually transmitted infections.
Demographic and health survey, Involuntary childlessness, Marital infidelity, Women’s education, Women’s health
601-614
Olamijuwon, Emmanuel
e5692fe5-2a86-409d-90b2-7e6001d20fba
Odimegwu, Clifford
aafcb135-db98-4531-b310-6fd89c085077
Chemhaka, Garikayi
e2168d34-a79a-4537-b226-27770aadac56
3 July 2020
Olamijuwon, Emmanuel
e5692fe5-2a86-409d-90b2-7e6001d20fba
Odimegwu, Clifford
aafcb135-db98-4531-b310-6fd89c085077
Chemhaka, Garikayi
e2168d34-a79a-4537-b226-27770aadac56
Olamijuwon, Emmanuel, Odimegwu, Clifford and Chemhaka, Garikayi
(2020)
Involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity among women in sub-Saharan African countries: an assessment of the moderating role of women’s education.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50 (2), .
(doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01770-3).
Abstract
A considerable number of married women in sub-Saharan African countries are childless and may be likely to engage in marital infidelity to avoid social stigma, economic insecurities, and other debilitating experience associated with being involuntarily childless. This study sought to investigate the relationship between involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity and how it may be moderated by women’s educational attainment. Data were obtained from 23,847 women in their first union for at least 2 years and participated in the demographic and health surveys of five sub-Saharan African countries comprising Cameroon, Gabon, Lesotho, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for socioeconomic, union, and partner characteristics. Involuntarily childless women in Cameroon (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI 1.62–3.39) and Sierra Leone (AOR: 2.22, 95% CI 1.42–3.49) were about two times more likely to engage in marital infidelity compared to non-childless married women. In Gabon, Lesotho, and Liberia, the odds of marital infidelity did not significantly differ between involuntarily childless and non-childless married women. Although involuntarily childless women with secondary or higher education reported higher levels of marital infidelity than non-childless women with a similar level of education, we found no statistical evidence in all the countries that the relationship between involuntary childlessness and marital infidelity was moderated by women’s educational attainment. These findings suggest that involuntary childlessness is a critical factor potentially related to marital infidelity and may be an important target for intervention and prevention, particularly in settings with high levels of sexually transmitted infections.
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Published date: 3 July 2020
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Funding Information:
This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CRP015015), and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Numbers: 105931). Acknowledgements
Keywords:
Demographic and health survey, Involuntary childlessness, Marital infidelity, Women’s education, Women’s health
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Local EPrints ID: 469499
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469499
ISSN: 0004-0002
PURE UUID: 8998a7b1-2cfa-4405-b87e-20ff025cb64b
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Date deposited: 16 Sep 2022 16:35
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:05
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Author:
Emmanuel Olamijuwon
Author:
Clifford Odimegwu
Author:
Garikayi Chemhaka
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