A Path Analysis of Factors Influencing the First Childbearing Decision-Making in Women in Shahrood in 2014

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Normal fertility follows a set of biological, social and cultural rules and regulations; controlled fertility, however, follows the rules and regulations of the family. The present study was therefore conducted to identify the factors influencing the first childbearing decision-making in women living in Shahroud, Iran, in 2014. Materials and Methods:The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 randomly-selected pregnant women admitted to health centers in Shahroud. The utilized data collection tools included a demographic and obstetrics questionnaire, a quality of life questionnaire, the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, the Snyder Hope Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were analyzed in SPSS-17 and the direct or inverse effects of the factors influencing the first childbearing decision-making were examined in AMOS-20. Results:The results obtained revealed marital age to have the highest degree of correlation with the first childbearing decision-making in women (r=0.90 and P<0.001).Once the statistically insignificant paths were eliminated, marital age was found to have the highest direct effect (β=0.63) on the first childbearing decision-making, followed by other factors including economic status (β=0.07), hopefulness (β=-0.07) and quality of life (β=-0.05). The inverse effects of marital age (β=0.01), social support (β= -0.01) and quality of life (β=-0.01) on the first childbearing decision-making were found to be significant in women (P<0.001). Conclusion:Many factors are involved in the process of childbearing decision-making, including individual factors (marital age, hopefulness and quality of life), familial factors (marital satisfaction) and social factors (social support). Healthcare institutions and policymakers should adopt strategies that can help couples bear their desired number of children within an appropriate time frame through ameliorating their social, economic and familial conditions.

Factors related to childbearing intentions among women: a cross-sectional study in health centers, Saveh, Iran

“…The behavioral intention was defined as a woman's perceived likelihood that she would engage in childbearing. It was evaluated through four 5-point items, including "I will definitely do this (5), I most probably will do this (4), I may do this (3), I possibly will not do this (2), and I will not do this at all (1)" (e.g., "At any time during the next 2 years do you intend to get pregnant?"). The scores of this part ranged from 4 to 20, and its reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha (0.85).…”

“…The world's total fertility rate has declined from 4.5 births per woman in 1970-1975 to 2.5 in 2005-2010 [1]. A wide range of social, economic, and personal factors, including reproductive behavior, higher levels of education, economic uncertainty (i.e., unemployment or employment opportunities, occupational pressure), partnership shifts (i.e., delay in delaying marriage), and economic goals or challenging housing conditions, lead young people to leave the parental home later, and this has contributed to the decrease in birth rates [1,2]. A review (2014) indicated that parents regarded having completed an educational level, holding a job, and having a stable income and good housing are important factors for their decision-making for childbearing [3].…”

“…This decline requires a comprehensive policy to manage the potential drop in population growth [1]. The World Bank has estimated Iran's population growth rate to have dropped to 1.95% in 2010-2014 and will further drop to 1.23% in 2015-2019 and to 1.13% in 2020-2024 [2]. A study by Behboudi et al showed that although women in Iran hold favorable attitudes toward childbearing, a wide range of socio-cultural and economic factors encourage these women to postpone their first pregnancy [6].…”

“…Behavioral theories can provide a framework to help identify beliefs that can be considered when developing an intervention [7]. Although previous studies have shown that subjective norms (SN), social support (SS), hopefulness, and marital satisfaction are associated with health behavior [2,6,8], to the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the association between these theoretical factors and childbearing intention in Iran.…”

What Took You So Long? A Public Health Approach to Mitigate the Delayed Childbearing

“…The fertility decision-making is interactively influenced by four factors (Tough et al, 2007;Ajzen and Klobas, 2013;Kariman et al, 2016): (1) personal attitude toward childbearing which includes personality, emotions, intelligence, value, level of education, and general attitudes; (2) subjective norms, i.e. perceived social pressure to have a child; (3) perceived behavioral control, i.e.…”