Peer-reviewed article
Scope, range and effectiveness of interventions to address social norms to prevent and delay child marriage and empower adolescent girls: a systematic review
Margaret E. Greene, Jeffrey Edmeades, Manahil Siddiqi ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This systematic review looks at programmes that try to change social norms in order to prevent or delay child marriage and to empower adolescent girls. The authors searched several research databases and the grey literature for studies published between January 2000 and September 2021. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. The review found little evidence of a systematic link between changes in social norms and changes in child marriage behaviour. Overall, the evidence that these programmes change norms is weak.
Key points
- Twelve studies met the eligibility criteria: experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations that collected data on age at marriage and on norms or attitudes.
- There was little evidence of a systematic relationship between social norms related to marriage and changes in child marriage behaviour.
- Programme effects were stronger on child marriage outcomes than on social norms, but only a minority of studies found an effect on either.
- Studies that appeared effective in changing norms varied greatly in the scale and extent of their programming.
- Few studies tried to identify the appropriate reference groups for measuring social norms.
Limitations
The abstract does not name the countries, the specific interventions or the effect sizes, so it cannot show which approaches work best or where. Only English-language studies from 2000 to 2021 were included, and only 12 studies met the criteria.
Abstract
Objectives Harmful gender and social norms prescribe divergent opportunities for girls and boys and drive child marriage. This systematic review examines the scope, range and effectiveness of interventions to change social norms and delay child marriage. Design We systematically assess the contributions made by interventions that work to shift norms to prevent child marriage or to limit its harmful consequences. Our analysis classifies each study’s quality in evaluation and implementation design regarding shifting norms. Data sources We conducted a search of electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Popline, Web of Science and Cochrane Library) and grey literature (targeted hand-searches of 15 key organisations and Google Scholar). Eligibility criteria Included interventions sought to change norms related to child marriage, were evaluated in experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations, collected data on age at marriage and norms/attitudes, and were published in English from January 2000 to September 2021. Data extraction and synthesis We used a standardised form to extract data from all eligible studies, and double-screened to validate coding and reporting. We classified the studies by low, medium and high quality for evaluation and risk of bias, and separately by the extent to which they addressed social norms. Results Our assessment of the 12 eligible studies identified revealed little evidence of a systematic relationship between social norms related to marriage and changes in child marriage behaviours. We found stronger evidence of programme effect on child marriage outcomes than on social norms, though only a minority of studies found an effect for either. Studies that appeared effective in changing child marriage norms varied greatly in scale and extent of programming, and few attempted to identify the appropriate reference groups for measuring social norms. Conclusion The studies evaluated by our review provide only weak evidence on the impact of interventions on norms, and on the link between shifts in norms and marriage behaviour.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Programmes designed to shift social norms in order to prevent or delay child marriage or limit its harmful consequences, as reviewed across 12 studies
- Population
- Adolescent girls and their communities in the 12 included studies (settings not stated in the abstract)
Key finding
Little evidence of a systematic relationship between social norms related to marriage and changes in child marriage behaviours.
Greene et al. · Crossref · 1 Jan 2024