Table 3.

Stigmatising attitudes, beliefs and actions among secondary students in Kenya (n = 633) as compared to the heterogeneous sample from Ghana and Zambia (n = 531)

Scale items ASABA scale (SABA scale)		Kenya (n = 613) Subscale and item score Mean (SD)	Ghana and Zambiaa (n = 531) Subscale score Mean (SD)
Stigmatising attitudes, 8 items (min-max = 8–40)		28.03 (5.76)	25.7 (7.48)
1	A girl who has an induced abortion is committing a sin.	4.49 (1.06)
	(A woman who has an abortion is committing a sin.)
2	Once a girl has one abortion, she will make it a habit.	3.38 (1.31)
	(Once a woman has one abortion, she will make it a habit.)
3	A girl who has an abortion cannot be trusted.	3.05 (1.42)
	(A woman who has had an abortion cannot be trusted.)
4	A girl who has an abortion brings shame to her family.	3.92 (1.23)
	(A woman who has had an abortion brings shame to her family.)
5	The health of a girl who has an abortion is never as good as it was before the abortion.	3.78 (1.36)
	(The health of a woman who has had an abortion is never as good as it was before the abortion.)
6	A girl who has had an abortion might be a bad influence on other women.	3.29 (1.41)
	(A woman who has had an abortion might encourage other women to get abortions.)
7	A girl who has an abortion will be a bad mother.	2.62 (1.36)
	(A woman who has an abortion is a bad mother.)
8	A girl who has an abortion brings shame to her community.	3.46 (1.36)
	(A woman who has an abortion brings shame to her community.)
Exclusion and discrimination, 8 items (min-max = 8–40)		14.31 (4.66)	15.72 (5.79)
9	A girl who has had an abortion should be prohibited from going to religious services. (A woman who has had an abortion should be prohibited from going to religious services.)	1.54 (0.88)
10	A girl who has had an abortion should be teased so that she will be ashamed about her decision.	2.14 (1.29)
	(I would tease a woman who has had an abortion so that she will be ashamed about her decision.)
11	A girl should be disgraced in my community if she has had an abortion.	2.09 (1.17)
	(I would try to disgrace a woman in my community if I found out she had an abortion.)
12	A man should not marry a woman who has had an abortion.	2.06 (1.16)
	(A man should not marry a woman who has had an abortion because she may not be able to bear children.)
13	A girl who has had an abortion should no longer be associated with me.	1.90 (1.12)
	(I would stop being friends with someone if I found out that she had an abortion.)
14	A girl who had an abortion should be pointed fingers at so that other people would know what she has done.	1.81 (1.12)
	(I would point my fingers at a woman who had an abortion so that other people would know what she has done.)
15	A girl who has an abortion should not be treated the same as everyone else.	1.75 (1.04)
	(A woman who has an abortion should not be treated the same as everyone else.)
Fear of contagion, 3 items (min-max = 3–15)		5.86 (2.19)	7.54 (3.41)
16	A girl who has had an abortion can make other people fall ill or get sick.	1.68 (1.04)
	(A woman who has an abortion can make other people fall ill or get sick.)
17	A girl who has had an abortion should be isolated from other people in the community for at least 4 weeks after having an abortion.	2.20 (1.12)
	(A woman who has an abortion should be isolated from other people in the community for at least 1 month after having an abortion.)
18	If a boy has sex with a girl who has had an abortion, he will most likely become infected with a disease.	1.96 (1.11)
	(If a man has sex with a woman who has had an abortion, he will become infected with a disease.)
Total scores (min-max = 18–85)		47.19 (9.27)	48.9 (14.2)

^aInternal dropout on specific items 0.0–1.7%