Investigating the social factors shaping the relationship between child marriage and mental health: Lessons learned from a pilot survey in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose: In Zimbabwe, 1 in 3 girls are married before 18, yet no studies focus explicitly on the relationship between child marriage and mental health. We conducted a pilot survey (n=100) to investigate the associations between common social factors linked to early and child marriage including: age, number of children, education level, unwanted pregnancies, and main source of income, with mental health Methods: Survivors aged 15-50 years completed researcher-facilitated surveys, which included the Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and demographic questions adapted from the Zimbabwean DHS. Results: 68% of participants met the cut off for diagnosis of common mental disorders (CMD) based on the SSQ. Our logistic regressions showed with an increase in age, survivors were 1.06 times more likely (p = 0.05, CI = 1.00, 1.13) to meet criteria for a CMD. We also found that those with unwanted pregnancies were 5 times more likely to meet criteria for CMDs (AOR= 5.33, p < 0.01, CI= 1.94, 14.63), in comparison with those with wanted pregnancies. Finally, we found family/partner income reduced the odds of depression by 84% (AOR= 0.16, p < 0.04, CI= 0.03, 0.90), in comparison with those with no income or had selected ‘own business/self’ as their main income source. Conclusions: Findings suggest the value of longitudinal cohort studies in this population to identify the strategic point of intervention for survivors who face high risk for mental health disorders.