Burgess, Rochelle A;
Sheibani, Farah;
Kelly, Isabelle;
Jeffery, Mairi;
Gumbonzvanda, Farirai;
Lewis, Gemma;
Ashraf, Asma;
... Gumbonzvanda, Nyaradzayi; + view all
(2023)
Bringing an end to the silence: Identifying priorities and solutions to addressing the mental health consequences of Child Marriage.
Health Policy and Planning
, 38
(4)
pp. 421-434.
10.1093/heapol/czad006.
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Abstract
Despite its inclusion in Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) to end all harmful gendered practices by 2030, child, early and forced marriage continues to be a pervasive problem globally. While there is consistent evidence on the physical health consequences of child marriage, there is a lack of evidence and inquiry into the mental health consequence. Method: We completed a change-oriented Delphi study to establish consensus on priority areas of research and intervention in relation to the mental health consequences of child, early and forced marriage. Invited experts (n = 11), survivors (n = 27), and professionals (n = 30) participated in our Delphi. Four rounds of data collection included: a blended in-person and online workshops with invited experts, an online mixed-methods questionnaire, focus groups in Zimbabwe with women who are survivors of child marriage and a repeat questionnaire sent to the first round of experts . Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and ranking methods, consistent with other Delphi studies. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic network analysis. Findings coalesced around three areas: perspectives on the relationship between mental health and child marriage, policy action; and treatment driven solutions. Consensus was reached on 16 items across these areas which included the need to prioritise psychosocial and social interventions to improve mental health outcomes for women and girls in existing marriages. They also called for new approaches to advocacy to drive awareness of this issue in policy circles. Implications for future practice are discussed.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Bringing an end to the silence: Identifying priorities and solutions to addressing the mental health consequences of Child Marriage |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/heapol/czad006 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad006 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author(s) 2023. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
| Keywords: | Adolescent health, Change-Oriented Delphi, Child Marriage, Early Marriage, Mental Health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10164106 |
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