Table 2.

Measurement of Explanatory Variables.

Explanatory Variable	Definition and Measurement
Age group (in years)	Self-reported age of women at the time of the survey, grouped into: 15–24 years; 25–34 years; and 35–49 years.
Ethnicity	Self-reported ethnic affiliation of respondents grouped into: Brahmin/Chhetri (Hill Brahmin/Chhetri, Terai Brahmin/Chhetri); Janajati (Newar, Hill/Terai Janajati); Dalit (Hill/Terai Dalit); and Other castes (all other ethnicities).
Place of residence	Types of place of residence: Urban or Rural
Household wealth status	A composite index of household possessions, assets, and amenities, derived using principal component analysis, grouped as: Poor (Poorest and Poorer); Middle; and Rich (Richer and Richest).
Education differences	The highest level of education attained by respondent and her husband/partner collected as No Education, Primary, Secondary, and Higher redefined as education differences between respondent and her husband, grouped into: Both uneducated; Both equally educated; Husband better educated; and, Wife better educated.
No of living children	The number of living children grouped as: 2 or fewer children; and, 3 or more children
Employment status	Employment status classified according to the self-report of types of earning from respondent’s work, grouped into: Unemloyed; Employed but not for cash (paid as In-kind only); Employed for cash (paid as cash only or/and cash and in-kind).
Exposure to any media (at least once a week)	A composite variable derived from the frequency of access to newspaper/magazine, radio and/or television, at least once a week, grouped as: No exposure; Exposure (exposure to any media at least once a week)
Decision-making autonomy	A composite variable measured from women’s participation (alone or with husband) in making three household decisions (access to health care; large household purchases; and freedom to visit families and relatives), grouped into, low autonomy (No participation in any decision making); Medium autonomy (Participation in 1–2 decision making); High autonomy (Participation in all 3-decision making)
Attitudes towards partner violence	A composite variable reflecting women’s attitudes towards wife beating by their husband for each of the following five reasons (goes out without telling her husband; neglects the children; argues with husband; refuses to have sex with husband; and burns the food), grouped as: Accepts violence fully (wife beating justified for 3–5 reasons); Accepts violence partially (beating justified for 1–2 reasons); Rejects violence (Beating not justified for any reasons)
Pregnancy intentions	A dichotomous variable reflecting the women’s pregnancy intentions for the last birth, grouped as: Unintended (pregnancy not wanted at all); and Intended (pregnancy wanted at the time of conception or later).
Partner control behavior	A composite variable reflecting respondent self-reporting of five controlling behavior displayed by the husband/partner (is jealous if she talks to other men; accuses respondent of being unfaithfulness; does not permit respondent to meet female friends; tries to limit respondent’s contact with family; insists on knowing where respondent was), grouped into: No behavior displayed; 1–2 behavior displayed; 3 or more behavior displayed
Physical IPV	A composite binary variable measured by asking women’s if their husband ever did any of the seven following acts against her: pushed, shook or thrown something at her; slapped her; twisted arm or pulled her hair; punched her with fist or something that could hurt her; kicked, dragged or beat her; tried to choke or burn her on purpose; and, threatened or attacked her with any weapon such as knife, gun or any other weapon, grouped as: Yes (experiencing at least one of these seven acts); and No (not experiencing at all).
Sexual IPV	A composite binary variable measured based on three questions by asking women whether their husband ever: physically forced to have unwanted sexual relationships with him; physically forced to perform any other unwanted sexual acts; and, forced with threats and any other way to performs unwanted sexual acts, grouped as: Yes (experiencing any of these three acts): and No (not experiencing at all).
Emotional IPV	A composite binary variable created from the women’s responses to three questions by asking them whether their husband ever: humiliated her in front of others; threatened to hurt or harm her or someone close to her; and, insulted or made her feel bad about herself, grouped as: Yes (if women experienced any of these three acts); and No (not experienced at all).
Any IPV	A composite dichotomous summary measure created from 13 questions (physical IPV: 7, sexual IPV: 3, and emotional IPV: 3) to capture the women’s ever experience of any IPV (physical, sexual, and/or emotional), grouped as: Yes (‘yes’ response to any of these 13 questions); and No (‘no’ response to all of the 13 questions).