title: Influence of school support on early marriage experiences and health services utilization among young orphaned women in Zimbabwe.
abstract: School support programs reduce school dropout, early marriage, and early pregnancy for a majority of young orphaned women. We used a mixed-methods approach to examine why these programs are less effective for a significant minority by exploring their influence on marriage and health services utilization. Participants were from a randomized controlled trial testing school support as HIV prevention. Half as many intervention as control participants had been married; married intervention participants had 1 more year of education compared with married control participants. Receiving school support did not appear to improve health-related factors. Pregnancy was among the most common reasons for marriage across both groups. The greatest benefit of school support appears to be in delaying marriage and pregnancy while increasing educational attainment.
authors.affiliation: a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Winnie Kavulani
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Luseno
authors.affiliation: a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Bonita J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Iritani
authors.affiliation: a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.affiliation: b Department of Community Medicine , University of Zimbabwe , Harare , Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Simbarashe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rusakaniko
authors.affiliation: a Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Denise Dion
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Hallfors
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054540:Child, Orphaned / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012574:Schools; D012944:Social Support; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology; D015030:Zimbabwe