ArticlePloS one2021
The impact of girl child marriage on the completion of the first cycle of secondary education in Zimbabwe: A propensity score analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Early Marriage, Preterm Birth, and School Dropout: An Intergenerational Cycle of Risk?American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and factors associated with child marriage, a systematic review.BMC women's health · 2023Pooled it
- Child Brides in Africa: A Narrative Review on Effects, Gaps, and Interventions.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Exploring Prevalence and Determinants of Early Marriage Through a Cross-Sectional Study: Insights From Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2022.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Modeling timing of sexual debut among women in Zimbabwe using a Geoadditive Discrete-Time survival approach.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Overcoming structural violence through community-based safe-spaces: Qualitative insights from young women on oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Kisumu, Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Effects of early marriage among women married before reaching 18 years old (qualitative study approach).Frontiers in sociology · 2024Article
- Reasons for early marriage of women in Zahedan, Iran: a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe association between girl child marriage and education is widely acknowledged; however, there is no large body of demographic studies from Zimbabwe that have addressed this aspect. This study aimed to examine the extent to which child marriage affects one academic milestone, i.e. completion of the Ordinary Level, the first cycle of high school, which is also the most critical indicator of educational achievement in Zimbabwe.
methodsWe used the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey and extracted 2380 cases of ever-married women aged between 20-29 years. We applied a propensity score-based method, which allowed us to mimic a hypothetical experiment and estimate outcomes between treated and untreated subjects.
resultsOur results suggest that child age at first marriage is concentrated between the ages of 15-22, with the typical age at first marriage being 18 years. Both logistic regression and PSM models revealed that early marriage decreased the chances of completing the first cycle of high school. Regression adjustment produced an estimate of prevalence ratio (PR) of 0.446 (95% CI: 0.374-0.532), while PSM resulted in an estimate (PR = 0.381; 95% CI: 0.298-0.488).
conclusionThese results have implications for Zimbabwe's development policy and suggest that girl-child marriage is a significant barrier to educational attainment. If not addressed, the country will most likely fail to meet sustainable development Goal 4.2 and 5.3. Social change interventions that target adults and counter beliefs about adolescent sexuality and prepubescent marriage should be put in place. Moreover, interventions that keep teenage girls in school beyond the first cycle of high school should be prioritised.
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