Factors That Encourage Early Marriage and Motherhood from the Perspective of Iranian Adolescent Mothers : A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Early marriage and motherhood is one of the most important health challenges in developing countries and affects mothers, children, families and communities, thus their causes and predisposing factors must be explored. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that encourage early marriage and motherhood in Iranian culture.Methods: Inductive Conventional Content Analysis approach was used in this qualitative study. Face to face in-depth semi-structured interview were conducted with 16 Iranian adolescent mothers in the Kerman province of Iran. Data collection continued until acquiring data saturation and MAX-QDA software was used for analysis of the data.Results: Two main categories (external incentives and internal incentives) and 8 sub-categories (inappropriate economic condition, instability of family, desire and encouragement of parents, copying others, position (status), subjective beliefs, meeting inner needs and desires, insufficient awareness) were extracted from the data.Conclusion: Various factors (personal, social, economic, cultural, spiritual and technological) encourage adolescents to early marriage and motherhood. Understanding of these factors can help health care providers, who work in the field of mother and child health, to provide appropriate assessment and interventions for improvement of the health of this group of society. Please cite this article as: Mangeli M. et al. Factors that encourage early marriage and motherhood from the perspective of Iranian adolescent mothers: a qualitative study . World Family Medicine. 2017; 15(8):67-74.

Investigation of the key factors that influence the girls to enter into child marriage: A meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence

“…Among the 12 studies, “family values and circumstances” emerged from 11 studies as a determinant for child marriage [ 30 – 40 ]. The participants (women (married and unmarried), mothers who experienced child marriage, refugees (married women, unmarried women, and their parents), and stakeholders (NGO and government officials, camp leader, religious leaders, teachers, academics, healthcare workers, lawyers, police and gynecologist)) told how the family values and circumstances were affecting the decision of child marriage.…”

“…Mangeli et al explored the perspectives of adolescent mothers in Kerman, Iran, with regards to factors that encouraged them to get married at an early age [ 30 ]. “Instability within the family,” in particular, family breakdown and divorce or death of parents, were cited as causes of early marriage.…”

“…I had a lot of problems with my stepfather and half-sisters and brothers. I could not accept my stepfather as my father” [ 30 ]. Furthermore, some adolescents got married at an early age due to the “Desire and encouragement of parents,” which in turn, may have been largely influenced by financial problems, social norms, and cultural and religious issues.…”

“…“Cultural family values” emerged as a facilitator for child marriage. In their studies, the parents of girls inculcated in their daughters that early marriage is a desirable thing to pursue [ 30 , 38 ]. In Morocco, grandparents and older relatives have a strong influence on household decisions including the marriage of the young member of their family: “The stance of these women essentially suggests that potential victims of a forced marriage should let themselves be convinced by their fathers or older relatives to go ahead with the unwelcome marriage and, above all, convince themselves that they actually want to marry the proposed partner” [ 33 , 34 ].…”

“…From the participants’ perspectives, being encouraged by family to get married greatly influenced their decision making. Mangeli et al described that, as the Iranian mothers preferred that their daughters get married at the same age as they did, it is difficult to alter the vicious cycle of child marriage through generations in the family [ 30 ].…”