title: The impact of armed conflict on adolescent transitions: a systematic review of quantitative research on age of sexual debut, first marriage and first birth in young women under the age of 20 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Young women in conflict-affected regions are at risk of a number of adverse outcomes as a result of violence, economic deterioration and the breakdown of community structures and services. This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of quantitative literature reporting how key sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes among young women under the age of 20 years are affected by exposure to armed conflict; namely, sexual debut, first marriage and first birth. Increases in these outcomes among young women are all associated with potential negative public health consequences. It also examines and documents possible causal pathways for any changes seen.
  
  
  METHODS
  To fit with our inclusion criteria, all reviewed studies included outcomes for comparable populations not exposed to conflict either temporally or spatially. A total of 19 studies with results from 21 countries or territories met our inclusion criteria; seven presented findings on marriage, four on fertility and eight on both of these outcomes. Only one study reporting on sexual debut met our criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings show clear evidence of both declines and increases in marriage and childbirth among young women in a range of conflict-affected settings. Several studies that showed increases in marriage below the age of 20 years reported that such increases were concentrated in the younger teenagers. Trends in fertility were predominantly driven by marriage patterns. Suggested causal pathways for the changes observed could be grouped into three categories: involuntary, gender and psycho-social and economic and material factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The review reveals a paucity of literature on the impact of conflict on SRH outcomes of young women. Further quantitative and qualitative studies are needed to explore how conflict influences SRH events in young women over both the short- and longer-term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Statistics and Demography, Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK. S.Neal@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sexual Health Research, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sexual Health Research, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ingham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000068337:Armed Conflicts / Q000523:psychology*; D001722:Birth Order; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult