Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review
More than 650 million women alive today were married as children. Relative to efforts to prevent child marriage, efforts to support child brides have received much less attention. This review set out to map and describe interventions that support child brides. We performed a scoping review using sev...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2024.2449310 |
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| author | Shatha Elnakib Ahmed K. Ali Kate Mieth Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli |
| author_facet | Shatha Elnakib Ahmed K. Ali Kate Mieth Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli |
| author_sort | Shatha Elnakib |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | More than 650 million women alive today were married as children. Relative to efforts to prevent child marriage, efforts to support child brides have received much less attention. This review set out to map and describe interventions that support child brides. We performed a scoping review using seven electronic databases coupled with a grey literature search in January 2022. Data were extracted using a piloted extraction tool and findings were reported in narrative synthesis. A total of 34 projects were included in our review. Most projects focused on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge and behaviours among child brides, which was often achieved through a combination of SRH education, counselling and information provision, along with linkages to SRH services. Some interventions were health facility-based and aimed at improving responsiveness of health service providers to the needs of child brides. Very few described economic interventions as one component of a broader health intervention, and only three interventions focused on improving girls’ educational outcomes. We also note the paucity of media-based interventions, despite their popularity among adolescents. Over time, interventions addressing the needs of child brides have increased, but the preponderance of evidence has focused on SRH interventions, with interventions that couple education with adolescent-friendly health services demonstrating promise. Interventions addressing other areas of health and social wellbeing of this group, such as mental health, sexual health, and economic independence, have been overlooked in comparison. The review highlights the need for additional empirical evidence on what works to support child brides. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-94e6de21063b499fbcdcbb9df6eda6e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2641-0397 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
| spelling | doaj-art-94e6de21063b499fbcdcbb9df6eda6e22025-01-08T12:12:19ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSexual and Reproductive Health Matters2641-03972025-01-0113810.1080/26410397.2024.2449310Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping reviewShatha Elnakib0Ahmed K. Ali1Kate Mieth2Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli3Assistant Scientist, International Health Department] Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Consultant] Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (which includes the Human Reproduction Programme), World Health Organization, Geneva, SwitzerlandAssociate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USAFormerly Scientist, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (which includes the Human Reproduction Programme), World Health Organization, Geneva, SwitzerlandMore than 650 million women alive today were married as children. Relative to efforts to prevent child marriage, efforts to support child brides have received much less attention. This review set out to map and describe interventions that support child brides. We performed a scoping review using seven electronic databases coupled with a grey literature search in January 2022. Data were extracted using a piloted extraction tool and findings were reported in narrative synthesis. A total of 34 projects were included in our review. Most projects focused on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge and behaviours among child brides, which was often achieved through a combination of SRH education, counselling and information provision, along with linkages to SRH services. Some interventions were health facility-based and aimed at improving responsiveness of health service providers to the needs of child brides. Very few described economic interventions as one component of a broader health intervention, and only three interventions focused on improving girls’ educational outcomes. We also note the paucity of media-based interventions, despite their popularity among adolescents. Over time, interventions addressing the needs of child brides have increased, but the preponderance of evidence has focused on SRH interventions, with interventions that couple education with adolescent-friendly health services demonstrating promise. Interventions addressing other areas of health and social wellbeing of this group, such as mental health, sexual health, and economic independence, have been overlooked in comparison. The review highlights the need for additional empirical evidence on what works to support child brides.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2024.2449310child marriagescoping reviewadolescentinterventionslow- and middle-income countries |
| spellingShingle | Shatha Elnakib Ahmed K. Ali Kate Mieth Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters child marriage scoping review adolescent interventions low- and middle-income countries |
| title | Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review |
| title_full | Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review |
| title_short | Mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health, educational, social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides: a systematic scoping review |
| title_sort | mapping the evidence on interventions that mitigate the health educational social and economic impacts of child marriage and address the needs of child brides a systematic scoping review |
| topic | child marriage scoping review adolescent interventions low- and middle-income countries |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2024.2449310 |
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