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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 19.
Published in final edited form as: J Biosoc Sci. 2010 Jun 21;42(6):787–814. doi: 10.1017/S0021932010000271

Table 1.

The associations between marriage, interpersonal and socioeconomic factors and childlessness versus having five or more children in Amakiri, 2007

Variable n (%) % Childless p-value Univariate OR
(95% CI)
Multivariate OR
(95% CI)
Marriage
Married to first husband
0.01
 Yes 69 (54.3) 23.2 1.00 1.00
 No 58 (45.7) 46.6 2.61 (1.14–5.94) 2.44 (0.86–6.90)
Current marital status 0.01
 Married 93 (74.4) 28.0 1.00 1.00
 Has no partner 32 (25.6) 53.1 2.03 (1.11–3.72) 1.47 (0.73–2.98)
Times married 0.28
 Once 94 (73.4) 30.9 1.00
 Twice or more 34 (26.6) 41.2 1.55 (0.67–3.61)
At first marriage did your husband have
another wife?
0.37
 Yes 39 (30.7) 28.2 1.00
 No 88 (69.3) 36.4 1.68 (0.70–4.05)
Did your husband later marry another wife? 0.31
 Yes 50 (40.0) 38.0 1.00
 No 75 (60.0) 29.3 0.69 (0.30–1.56)
Would the husband be justified in leaving his
wife, if they were unable to have children?
0.69
 Yes 34 (27.0) 35.3 1.00
 No 92 (73.0) 31.5 0.95 (0.41–2.18)
Would the wife be justified in leaving her
husband, if they were unable to have children?
0.97
 Yes 39 (30.7) 33.3 1.00
 No 88 (69.3) 33.0 1.18 (0.55–2.55)
Interpersonal factorsa
How did your husband’s mother treat you as a
young married wife?
0.29
 Helpful to you?
  Yes 91 (87.5) 28.6 1.00
  No 12 (11.5) 33.3 1.07 (0.49–2.35)
 Did you quarrel? 0.88
  Yes 11 (11.1) 27.3 1.00
  No 88 (88.9) 30.0 1.04 (0.25–4.27)
 Did she change how she treated you? 0.04
  Yes 10 (10.5) 6.3 4.93 (0.91–26.72) 3.12 (0.51–19.12)
  No 85 (89.5) 25.3 1.00 1.00
How did your husband treat you as a young
married wife?
 Did you quarrel?
0.56
  Yes 15 (11.6) 40.0 1.00
  No 114 (88.4) 32.5 0.77 (0.23–2.64)
 Did he abuse you? 0.21
  Yes 12 (9.4) 50.0 1.00
  No 116 (90.6) 31.9 0.42 (0.12–1.53)
 Did your husband change how he treated you? 0.05
  Yes 43 (34.4) 44.2 2.22 (1.01–4.85) 2.14 (0.69–6.64)
  No 82 (65.6) 26.8 1.00 1.00
The number of children you have, does that
influence the way you are treated by your:
 Husband?
0.04
  Yes 14 (18.4) 35.7 1.00
  No 62 (81.6) 12.9 0.76 (0.10–5.51)
 Husband’s mother? 0.33
  Yes 14 (23.7) 21.4 1.00
  No 45 (76.3) 11.1 0.39 (0.03–4.44)
 Husband’s sister? 0.74
  Yes 12 (18.2) 16.7 1.00
  No 54 (81.8) 13.0 1.62 (0.14–18.31)
Socioeconomic factors
Education in years
0.21
 <1 39 (29.8) 28.2 0.29 (0.08–1.02)
 1–6 (primary) 40 (30.5) 42.5 1.00
 7–12 (secondary) 18 (13.7) 16.7 0.29 (0.06–1.47)
 Above secondary 34 (26.0) 38.2 0.81 (0.33–1.98)
What economic activities do you do today? 0.88
 Trading 54 (44.3) 29.6 1.00
 Farming 33 (27.1) 30.3 0.70 (0.27–1.83)
 Teaching 6 (4.9) 33.3 1.10 (0.17–7.22)
 Other 32 (23.8) 37.9 1.06 (0.43–2.61)
Did your economic activities change over time? 0.36
 Yes 26 (26.0) 42.3 1.00
 No 74 (74.0) 32.4 0.33 (0.11–0.98)
Do you participate in family meetings? 0.28
 Yes 99 (76.2) 31.3 1.00
 No 31 (23.9) 41.9 1.53 (0.65–3.61)
Do you own personal property? 0.18
 Yes 34 (27.2) 41.2 1.00 1:00
 No 91 (72.8) 28.6 0.76 (0.33–1.75) 0.49 (0.16–1.46)
Are you circumcised? 0.72
 Yes 115 (87.8) 33.0 1.00
 No 16 (12.2) 37.5 1.38 (0.44–4.37)
Did you do your seigbein? 0.32
 Yes 46 (36.8) 39.1 1.00
 No 79 (63.2) 30.4 0.69 (0.25–1.94)
Do you participate in a woman’s association? 0.55
 Yes 92 (72.4) 31.5 1.00
 No 35 (27.6) 37.1 1.33 (0.55–3.24)
Does having children make a woman a different
person?
0.41
 Yes 116 (92.8) 31.0 1.00
 No 9 (7.2) 44.4 1.20 (0.31–4.67)
Cared for non-biological children? 0.86
 Yes 86 (67.7) 32.6 1.00
 No 41 (32.3) 34.2 1.45 (0.58–3.63)
Do you receive anything from children you
have cared for?
0.03
 Yes 28 (31.8) 50.0 3.07 (1.00–9.37) 3.08 0.99–9.55)
 No 60 (68.2) 26.7 1.00 1.00
a

Did not include any of the variables within the group of variables ‘The number of children you have, does that influence the way you are treated by your…’ in the multivariate model. Model did not converge when these variables were included.