Table 3. Definition and measurement of independent variables.

Independent variable	Definition and measurement
Exposure to media	It is a composite variable derived from the frequency of access to media; radio, television, and newspaper grouped into; no exposure, less than once a week, and at least once a week.
Age groups (in years)	Self-reported age of the women at the time of the survey, grouped into; <20 years, 20–24 years, 25–29 years, 30–34 years and 35–49 years for analysis.
Religion	Self-reported religious affiliation of the respondent; grouped into Hindu and other religions. Other religions cover; Muslim, Buddhist, Kirat, and Christian.
Caste/ethnicity	Self-reported caste/ethnic affiliation of respondents grouped into Dalit (so-called lower caste), Janajati (indigenous groups), and other Terai caste (other than Terai Dalit/Janajati/Brahmin Chhetri), Brahmin/Chhetri (so-called higher caste), Muslim, and others. The other includes; Marwadi, Bangali, Sikh, Jain, Panjabi, and other unidentified castes/ethnic groups.
Level of education	This is the attainment of the education by women which is grouped into; no education: who have never been to school, basic education: who completed the grade 10 and higher education: who studies more than 10th grade.
Husband’s education	This is the attainment of the education by husband as reported by women who are grouped into; no education: who have never been to school, basic education: who completed the grade 10 and higher education: who studies more than 10th grade.
Place of residence by the Province	This is the place of residence of participants by Province; Province 1, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudur Paschim.
Place of residence	This is a type of residence; urban and rural.
Wealth quintiles	It is a composite index of the cumulative living standard of a household, which is categorized into; poorest (bottom 20%), poorer (20%), middle (middle 20%), richer (20%), and richest (top 20%) based on wealth index.
Household size	Household size is defined based on the number of persons living in the same house and grouped into; a household with four or fewer members and five or more.
Occupation	Occupation is classified based on the self-report types of work and grouped into; no occupation (housewife and currently out of a job), agriculture, and others for the analysis of the data. Other occupations are paid work other than the agriculture sector.
Husband occupation	Husband’s occupation is classified based on the report of women and grouped into; no occupation (currently out of a job), agriculture, and others for the analysis. Other occupations are mainly paid work.