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The problem
Intervention: Comparison of mental health outcomes, resilience, and socio-emotional support access between girls who married before age 18 and never-married peers in conflict-affected settings
Who it was tested with: Young people aged 15-24 in Rohingya refugee camps (Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh), Palestinian and Syrian refugee and host communities (Jordan), and conflict-affected zones (Ethiopia).
Experience from people who deliver programmes: stories, case studies and lessons learned. Valuable for understanding how and why, and for spotting what to test next, but not a measure of effect.
"Drawing on cross-country mixed-methods data with 8,567 young people aged 15–24 collected in three conflict-affected geographies between 2021 and 2023...the research finds girls and women who married before age 18 have higher rates of emotional distress (as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12), higher rates of depression (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and are less resilient (as measured by the Child and Youth Resilience Measure) compared with their never-married peers." The study uses standardized mental health instruments to document associations between child marriage and negative mental health outcomes across three distinct conflict-affected populations.
The study design compares groups but does not establish causal mechanisms or longitudinal trajectories. Results are specific to conflict-affected populations and may not generalize to stable contexts. The research does not measure whether pre-existing mental health vulnerabilities increase child marriage risk.
Across countries and designs
2 studies · 4 countries
