Unstable Marriages Research Articles

Decent exposure: young women mixing schooling and sharpness in Lira City

ABSTRACT We examine ‘exposure’ as a new subjectivity among young women in Lira City in northern Uganda. Socialising with men in bars, ‘managing’ boyfriends, being a good Christian wife, are all ways of mixing experiences of formal education with the challenges of navigating a way forward in the complex and evolving context of Lira City. Young women strive to acquire skills of hustling, networking and navigating social situations, which they begin to develop during their time in school and university. They continue to cultivate these skills as they move into early adulthood. Lira City is a landscape where new government legislation, the advocacy work of NGOs, the mass expansion of Uganda’s education system, and unstable marriages, create new opportunities as well as challenges for young women.

Determinants of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Public Hospitals of West Shewa Zone, Oromiya Region: Mixed Method Study.

Background Mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) occurs when a mother infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) passes the virus to her child. Without intervention, the transmission rate of HIV ranges from 15% to 45%. With effective interventions, this rate can be reduced to below 5%. Ethiopia aimed to reduce transmission to lower than 5% by 2020, but their final MTCT rate was 15% in 2016. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants of HIV transmission from mother to child in the West Shoa Zone of the Oromiya region. Methods: This study employs mixed methods, including an unmatched case-control study among children who tested HIV positive and negative at the end of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) follow-up and one -on - one interview. Additionally, one-on-one interviews with mothers of positive infants were conducted. Variables of interest were collected using structured and semi-structured questionnaires and data abstraction forms from mothers of exposed infants, medical records of mothers, and children. Results: The majority of cases (70.8%) were not included in the Option B+ program. Home delivery increases the chance of HIV transmission by six times, AOR=6.0; CI (1.5–29.2). None-inclusion in the Option B+ program increases the chance of transmission by 18 times, AOR=18.0; CI (5.0–68.1). Partner non-involvement in HIV care increases the chance of transmission by 7.3 times, AOR=7.3; CI (1.1–37.4). The mother-to-mother support program decreases the chance of transmission by 86.5%, AOR=0.13; CI (0.11–0.39). Poor antenatal care (ANC) awareness and practices among rural residents, and unstable marriage in urban residents, contribute to unaware MTCT of HIV. Conclusion: ART clinics should focus on and strengthen the mother-to-mother support program, create space for partner involvement in HIV care, and provide training for Health Extension Workers (HEWs). Health education and awareness creation should be implemented by HEWs to improve ANC practices, reduce home delivery, and increase voluntary counseling and testing among residents.

Determinants of Marital Instability in Ibadan, Nigeria

The economic and social desirability of marital stability is shown by its promotion of di-vision of labor, risk pooling, and encouragement of healthy behavior, while unstable mar-riages are linked to negative outcomes such as psychological and financial distress, im-paired child development, and long-term health challenges. It is worth noting that, while previously high divorce rates in developed countries appear to be slowing down, the op-posite might occur in developing countries. However, few studies have empirically ex-amined the causes of marital instability in developing countries. This study sought to em-pirically investigate marital instability in Nigeria by focusing on its key influencing fac-tors. The study collected data from 186 individuals in the urban and rural areas of Ibadan, the third most populous city in Nigeria, and used multivariate logistic regression analysis to investigate three marital states: divorce, separation, and widowhood. The results show that marriage duration, number of children, and marriage entry age have a substantial in-fluence on marital instability. The risk of divorce follows a U-shaped pattern, with the risk falling from age 26 to 30 and rising again until age 46. Thus, addressing the causes of ear-ly and late marriage entry could improve marital stability in Nigeria. Keywords: Household economics; Marital instability; Marriage market

Sleep quality and related influencing factors in adult hypertensive patients in Shandong Province, China.

Hypertension is a leading cause of death worldwide. Hypertension is associated with poor sleep quality, which adversely affects physical and mental health, and can increase the incidence rate and mortality of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the factors related to poor sleep quality in hypertensive patients in Shandong Province, China. This cross-sectional study of adult patients with hypertension from August 2020 to February 2021was conducted in 10 cooperative hospitals in Shandong Province, China. Information was collected in the form of a questionnaire. In this study, Pittsburgh sleep quality index was used to evaluate sleep quality. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk of poor sleep quality. Variables with a P value < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) were considered statistically significant. A total of 528 patients with hypertension were included, ranging in age from 31 to 90 years old. The prevalence of poor sleep quality among study participants with hypertension was 319 (60.4%) (95% CI: 0.562-0.646). Female gender (adjusted odds ratios [AOR] = 3.231; 95% CI: 2.194-4.757), stage III blood pressure (AOR = 2.142; 95% CI: 1.108-4.141), mental labor, and labor both physical and mental (AOR = 1.639; 95% CI:1.03-2.611 and AOR = 1.632; 95% CI: 1.030-2.584), unstable marriage (AOR = 3.203; 95% CI: 1.026-9.997) and the very Low-density Lipoprotein (odds ratios = 0.776; 95% CI: 0.649-0.928) were significantly associated with poor sleep quality. This study preliminarily showed that poor sleep quality was a common problem in hypertensive patients, and more than half of the hypertensive patients had poor sleep quality. Poor sleep quality was significantly correlated with gender, hypertension level, occupation, marital status, and the very Low-density Lipoprotein. Considering the negative impact of sleep quality, appropriate strategies should be developed to prevent and treat poor sleep quality in hypertensive patients.

Effects of low pay on staff performance in Uganda Police Force

Purpose: To examine the effects of low pay on staff performance in the Uganda Police Force with a view to making recommendations. Methodology: The study adopted documentary review as a method of data collection technique in which data is gathered from reports from different sources, journals, magazines, newspapers, institutional archives, reports, and articles that have data linked to the research being undertaken (Creswell, 2014). A documentary review checklist was employed to solicit data related to an examination of the effects of low pay in Uganda Police Force archives. This method was preferred by the researcher over other methods because was able to gain permission to access information from different departments at Police headquarters archives. In addition, using document analysis takes out the personal aspect of the effect a researcher might have on an individual during an interview. Findings: It has been found that low pay is caused by inadequate budget funding the minimum ideal budget the Uganda Police Force requires for policing is Shs 936 billion in 2021/22 to Shs 840.189 billion, Lack of prioritizing of the police budget is estimated to be implemented in the period of five years, Poor Remuneration and Conditions of Service e.g. Social pressures which compel an individual into corrupt practice in order to pay school fees, greed and the thirst for wealth. However, the effects of low pay cause Low morale in personnel work, unstable marriages amongst police officers, bribery to achieve particular positions (posts), drunkardness, Corruption of personnel, and involvement of Police personnel in hiring guns for robbery.

Identity Formation: A Study of Conventional Marriages and Structure of African American Families in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Passing

In America, social, moral, and national unity issues have arisen because of the country's rapid population growth and the spread of many ethnicities. The Constitution then chose to make African Americans citizens of the United States by allowing them the freedom to marry. the constitution made it permissible for Afro-Americans to wed among themselves as well as in their locality. Many African Americans embraced this offer of citizenship by accepting the freedom to wed legally. Sadly, these rules gave them a new method of subjugation. This research aims at emphasizing on the difficulties and dilemmas that African American families, as portrayed in Nella Larsen's Passing and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. They had little privileges but numerous difficulties. Critical Race Theory provides information to understand the construction and deconstruction of law either in favor or against minorities. The nature of the study is qualitative because it deals with ideas and their social implications. Textual analysis of the texts proves that conventional and unstable marriages created barriers in their path. African American families are portrayed as being fragile, weak, pitiful, and loosely constructed under the sway of fast and traditional marriages. It further reveals that racism is deeply ingrained in American culture and has disastrous effects on African American family structures.

Women’s experiences of living with involuntary childlessness in Uganda: a qualitative phenomenological study

BackgroundInvoluntary childlessness is a global phenomenon that negatively impacts the couple, or the family involved. The experiences of women living with involuntary childlessness have not been well documented in the literature, specifically in the Ugandan context. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of women living with involuntary childlessness in Uganda.MethodsA qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted among women experiencing involuntary childlessness attending a National Referral Hospital. Purposive sampling was, and data saturation determined the actual sample size. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The results are presented in the form of text and narrative quotes from participants.ResultsSix themes emerged (i) Inadequate social support (ii) psychological torture (iii) continued grief (iv) marital instability (v) failure attributed to childlessness and (vi) financial constraints. Inadequate social support was in the form of having an unsupportive partner, altered social relation, and altered social status, while women experienced name-calling, emotional abuse, stigma, and blame under the psychological torture theme. Women experienced feelings of distress and grief, including anger, irritability, sadness, stress, and feelings of despair. Women with involuntary childlessness recounted experiencing unstable marriages characterized by infidelity, divorce, abandonment, and polygamous marriages. Some women coped positively, while others employed negative coping strategies such as social withdrawal and isolation. Women who their partners and families well supported coped positively. In contrast, those who did not receive as much support were stressed, sad, angry, and had lost hope of pregnancy.ConclusionsIn this study, women with involuntary childlessness lacked social support amidst experiences of marital turmoil, psychological torture, feelings of distress and grief, unfulfilled motherhood expectations, and financial constraints while seeking treatment, therefore, there is a need to screen the women for psychological / mental illness symptoms and provide empathetic care and counseling. The prevalence of involuntary childlessness is not well documented in Uganda and a study can be done to determine its extent.

Association between secondhand smoke exposure in pregnant women and their socioeconomic status and its interaction with age: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundExisting evidence highlights that exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is a risk factor for pregnant women’s health and is possibly affected by individual characteristics. This study aimed to explore the effect of individual socioeconomic status (SES) on SHS exposure among pregnant women in the third trimester and the interaction effect of age.MethodsA total of 678 nonsmoking pregnant women with a median age of 29.0 years from 14 communities in a medium-sized city were recruited for this survey. Exposure to SHS was defined as the self-reported smoking habit of a spouse/partner. Individual SES characteristics consisted of marital status, educational attainment, employment and per capita monthly income.ResultsThere were 238 (35.1%) participants who suffered from SHS exposure. Compared to the pregnant women who were employed, those who were unemployed were more likely to suffer from SHS exposure (OR = 1.572, 95% CI: 1.013–2.441). Participants who had a high school or technical secondary school education were more likely to be exposed to SHS than those with a college education or above (OR = 1.601, 95% CI: 1.029–2.449). Advanced age was a protective factor for participants with a college education or above (OR = 0.939, 95% CI: 0.884–0.997), but age increased the risk of SHS exposure among women who had unstable marriages (OR = 1.256, 95% CI: 1.019–1.549).ConclusionExposure to SHS was very common among pregnant women in the third trimester. Pregnant women with a low SES and an older age should be considered a key population for the implementation of public health interventions.

Factors Influencing Marriege instabilities in Kisarawe district, Coastal Region, Tanzania

This study examined the factors infl uencing marriage instability in Kisarawe District. Th e data was collected from a sample of 270 women from unstable marriages. Th e primary data was collected by using a structured questionnaire. Th e results of the study indicated that mothers and children were the major victims of unstable marriages in the district. Th e children of unstable marriages are deprived of basic social services such as education and health services. Moreover, there was a strong association between frequency of remarriages with age and education. It was also found that poverty, education and culture like religion were the major causes of marriage instability in the district. Besides this there were many intervention measures applied to solve some of the problems related to marriage instabilities. Th ese include community participation in caring deprived mothers and children. It is recommended that the marriage law of 1971 should be reviewed in order to reduce marriage instabilities which lead to poor child care.

The main system value orientations of the personality

The article is devoted to the problem of systemic value orientations of the personality of girls who are officially and informally married. In the modern world, the values of the family are very strongly influenced by negative trends, non-observance of traditions, unstable marriages, and the collapse of moral norms. Creating a family and fostering values for modern society is a difficult task. The purpose of the study: to identify the value orientations of young girls who are in an informal and official marriage. The paper consistently solves the following problems: the concept of value orientations is considered; the position of the family in the system of value orientations of girls who are in an informal and official marriage is revealed; domestic and foreign approaches to the study of value orientations are compared. Research methods: theoretical and empirical methods were used to solve the tasks set. As a result of the conducted empirical research, the formulated hypothesis is proved, the following tasks are solved: the value orientations of girls who are in an informal and official marriage are compared; the meaning of girls ' lives is investigated; the degree of satisfaction with marriage is revealed.

The Thatcherite Bildungsroman

ABSTRACT In 1987, Margaret Thatcher said ‘there is no such thing as society’. If the classic Bildungsroman moves toward integration into the social order, how does the genre register the British 1980s’ valorisation of autonomy over solidarity? The plots of what I call the Thatcherite Bildungsroman exploit the unstable marriage between traditionalist ‘Victorian Values’ and transformative ‘creative destruction’. The Thatcherite ideal of self-development through market labour seems to depend upon the family unit to stabilize the social order. However, the drive toward autonomy that Thatcherism championed undermined the unity of the family. The divorce plot replaces the marriage plot in these books because the novel of self-development cannot help asking whether the atomic unit of the social order is the family or the individual. In David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, the divorce plot – the novel begins with a mysterious female caller and ends by dispersing the household – allows the teenage protagonist to understand ‘creative destruction’ as self-development. In contrast, the abortive divorce plot in Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty – in which the gay protagonist is sacrificially expelled from a heterosexual nuclear family – manifests a homophobic paranoia about what a 1987 Act of Parliament called ‘homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’.

The Influence of Regulated Marital Conflict Resolution Styles on Marital Stability in Kiambu County, Kenya

The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between regulated conflict resolution styles and marital stability in Kiambu County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to: establish the types of marital conflicts among married individuals in Kiambu County; determine the various marital conflict resolution styles used by married individuals in the County, and; establish the relationship between marital conflict resolution styles and marital stability. Descriptive-correlation research design was used. Data was collected from 96 married individuals aged 18 years and above by aid of a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS. The statistical techniques applied included independent samples T-test, Chisquare and Mann-Whitney U test. The results showed that most types of conflicts were solvable. Descriptive statistics indicated that regulated marital conflict resolution styles were used by majority of the respondents, with validating styles being the most applied (M=2.87, SD=0.745). This was followed by volatile styles (M=2.79, SD=0.827) and avoidant styles (M=2.79, SD=0.739). The difference between individuals in stable marriages and those in unstable marriages was not statistically significant in terms of their use of regulated marital conflict resolution styles. It was concluded that regulated conflict resolution styles were a necessary but not sufficient conditions for marital stability. It was recommended that premarital counselors should highlight to the would be couples that some conflicts are perpetual and therefore require coping with, rather than resolving.

Using contraceptives to delay first birth: a qualitative study of individual, community and health provider perceptions in southern Tanzania

BackgroundYoung adolescents and unmarried women in low and middle income countries face challenges in accessing family planning services. One factor likely to limit contraceptive use is the attitude and opinion of local stakeholders such as community leaders and health workers. Much of the existing evidence on this topic focuses on women who have already started childbearing. Using primary qualitative data, we explored individual, community and health provider’s perceptions about using modern contraceptives to delay the first birth in a high fertility setting.MethodsA descriptive qualitative study was conducted in Tandahimba district in southern Tanzania between December 2014 and March 2015. We conducted 8 focus group discussions with men and women and 25 in-depth interviews (18 with women, 4 with family planning service providers and 3 with district-level staff). Participants were purposively sampled. Data transcripts were managed and coded using Nvivo 11 software and we employed a thematic framework analysis.ResultsThree main themes emerged about using modern contraceptives to delay first birth: (1) the social and biological status of the woman (2) the type of contraceptive and (3) non-alignment among national policies for adolescents. Use of modern contraceptives to delay first birth was widely acceptable for women who were students, young, unmarried and women in unstable marriage. But long-acting reversible methods such as implants and intrauterine devices were perceived as inappropriate methods for delaying first birth, partly because of fears around delayed return to fecundity, discontinuation once woman’s marital status changes and permanently limiting future fertility. The support for use of modern contraceptives to delay a first pregnancy was not unanimous. A small number of participants from both rural and urban areas did not approve the use of contraceptive methods before the birth of a first baby at all, not even for students. There was lack of clarity and consistency on the definition of ‘young’ and that had direct implications for access, autonomy in decision-making, confidentiality and consent for young people.ConclusionsWomen who wish to delay their first birth face challenges related to restrictions by age and method imposed by stakeholders in accessing and provision of modern contraceptives. There is a need for a clearly communicated policy on minimum age and appropriate method choice for delayers of first birth.

Factors Associated With Domestic Violence Against Women in Iran: An Exploratory Multicenter Community-Based Study.

Domestic violence against women committed by intimate partners is a worldwide concern especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess the problem among Iranian women and identify associated risk factors. Using a cross-sectional multicenter design, 1,600 women in six different areas of Iran were surveyed. A measure of domestic violence against women was administered and demographic information collected. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with domestic violence. The prevalence of domestic violence among participants were emotional (64%), physical (28%), and sexual (18%). Higher education (both women and their partners), employment status of partner (being employed), and lower number of children lowered the risk, whereas history of previous marriage (for either women or their partners), unstable marriage, substance abuse, crowded family situation, and lower socioeconomic status increased the risk of domestic violence. There is a high prevalence of domestic violence, particularly emotional, against women by their partners. Preventive measures are recommended such as increasing public awareness, improving in socioeconomic status of families, educating women about what they can do, and encouraging counseling for the couple or the woman alone.

Evaluation of effects of artemether + lumefantrine (artemisinin-based combination therapy) on women's reproductive cycle using Creighton Model Fertilitycare System and NaProTECHNOLOGY

Background: Malaria is prevalent in Nigeria, and artemether + lumefantrine (artemisinin-based combination therapy [ACT]) is drug of choice in treatment of uncomplicated cases. ACT is contraindicated in early pregnancy. They release-free radicals that can compromise female fertility. Infertility and its associated complications such as miscarriages, abnormal gestation, and unstable marriages seem to be on the increase. This study aims at evaluating the effect of ACT on female fertility. The significance of this research is to draw the attention of fertility care givers to this possible cause of infertility and fertility challenges. Subjects and Methods: Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaProTECHNOLOGY are simply technologies that can be used to assess female fertility. They are used in this study to assess the effect of ACT administered at different stages of menstrual cycles of three selected fertile adult females. The results are interpreted on the background of standard Creighton model chart. Results: This study has shown that ACT has a significant fertility deteriorating effect on the women. It caused ovulation defect and diagnosed as partial rupture syndrome in the very cycle of use and in the first cycle after use. It also significantly reduced cervical mucus production and significantly reduced luteal phase progesterone production with an associated significant increase of luteal phase estrogen production. Conclusion: ACT use as antimalarial may be a possible cause of infertility and fertility challenges in women.

Don't Give Up the Adoptee: The Research of Adoption Dissolution in Taiwan

It has been observed that increasing the rate of adoption dissolution compromises children's rights. This study set out to investigate adoption dissolution including its causal factors and risk factors. It also set out to identify coping strategies to help avoid the situation leading to adoption dissolution. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative methodology to collect and analyze data. The research methods included a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions and interviewing. 44 questionnaires of adoption dissolution were collected and 44 interviews and some focus group discussions were conducted. The findings revealed a range of risk factors of adoption dissolution including adoptee characteristics (e.g. older age, emotional and behavioral disorder, sibling separation , special needs.); adopter family characteristics (e.g. their elders forcing them to adopt kids, too high expectation for child's performance, lack of parenting skills, lack of caring experience, an unstable marriage, pregnancy after adoption, step parent adoption); and agency characteristics(e.g. unprofessional in matching, insufficient service quality and assistance, unfit family needs, inadequate information). The research found that most of minor child adoption dissolution occurs in private adoption contexts. The perspective of adoption is still conservative and traditional, and focuses on adults' themselves, not concerns the best interests of the child. Thus, Taiwan's Government and adoption agencies should actively provide assistance for adoption, and make post-adoption supportive services available and accessible to protect the best interests of the child.

Subtyping of Strengths and Difficulties in a Chinese Adolescent Sample: a Latent Class Analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore the subtyping of strengths and difficulties among normal Chinese adolescents using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). The Chinese version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-C) was administered to 4121adolescents, ages 11–18 years (M = 15.35, SD = 1.70) recruited from 12 Chinese middle schools. Obvious grouping features appeared, and the model of the three latent classes was supported. The three groups were defined as the “high difficulties group”, “uncooperative group”, and “well-adjusted group”, the three groups accounted for 34.8, 29.9, and 35.3 % of the total sample respectively. After extracting three latent classes from the data, a multivariate logistic regression model was employed to assess the relationship between the three latent classes and gender, age, parents’ marital status, and parents’ educational attainment. Further analyses revealed that compared to the well-adjusted group, the adolescents from the high difficulties group and uncooperative group were older, and had parents with unstable marriages and lower educational attainments. Significant heterogeneity in strengths and difficulties was revealed in this Chinese adolescent sample. The three- group cluster solution, based on the analyses of difficulties and strengths, provided further support for models of mental health that extend beyond the traditional medical model, revealing youth who might be missed in mental health screenings focusing only on difficulties. Further research, with different cultural samples, is needed to support these results.

Do daughters really cause divorce? Stress, pregnancy, and family composition.

Provocative studies have reported that in the United States, marriages producing firstborn daughters are more likely to divorce than those producing firstborn sons. The findings have been interpreted as contemporary evidence of fathers' son preference. Our study explores the potential role of another set of dynamics that may drive these patterns: namely, selection into live birth. Epidemiological evidence indicates that the characteristic female survival advantage may begin before birth. If stress accompanying unstable marriages has biological effects on fecundity, a female survival advantage could generate an association between stability and the sex composition of offspring. Combining regression and simulation techniques to analyze real-world data, we ask, How much of the observed association between sex of the firstborn child and risk of divorce could plausibly be accounted for by the joint effects of female survival advantage and reduced fecundity associated with unstable marriage? Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), we find that relationship conflict predicts the sex of children born after conflict was measured; conflict also predicts subsequent divorce. Conservative specification of parameters linking pregnancy characteristics, selection into live birth, and divorce are sufficient to generate a selection-driven association between offspring sex and divorce, which is consequential in magnitude. Our findings illustrate the value of demographic accounting of processes which occur before birth-a period when many outcomes of central interest in the population sciences begin to take shape.

Women's Emancipation Through Education: A Macroeconomic Analysis

In this paper, we study the role of education as insurance against a bad marriage. Historically, due to disparities in earning power and education across genders, married women often found themselves in an economically vulnerable position, and had to suffer one of two fates in a bad marriage: either they get divorced (assuming it is available) and struggle as low-income single mothers, or they remain trapped in the marriage. In both cases, education can provide a route to emancipation for women. To investigate this idea, we build and estimate an equilibrium search model with education, marriage/divorce/remarriage, and household labor supply decisions. A key feature of the model is that women bear a larger share of the divorce burden, mainly because they are more closely tied to their children relative to men. Our focus on education is motivated by the fact that divorce laws typically allow spouses to keep the future returns from their human capital upon divorce (unlike their physical assets), making education a good insurance against divorce risk. However, as women further their education, the earnings gap between spouses shrinks, leading to more unstable marriages and, in turn, further increasing demand for education. The framework generates powerful amplification mechanisms, which lead to a large rise in divorce rates and a decline in marriage rates (similar to those observed in the US data) from relatively modest exogenous driving forces. Further, in the model, women overtake men in college attainment during the 1990s, a feature of the data that has proved challenging to explain. Our counterfactual experiments indicate that the divorce law reform of the 1970s played an important role in all of these trends, explaining more than one-quarter of college attainment rate of women post-1970s and one-half of the rise in labor supply for married women.

The roles of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in idiopathic male infertility

The roles of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in idiopathic male infertility