Brief report: Parent–adolescent child concordance in social norms related to gender equity in marriage – findings from rural India

Brief report: Parent–adolescent child concordance in social norms related to gender equity in marriage – findings from rural India

Journal of Adolescence, September 2014

25173179

Anita Raj, Mohan Ghule, Madhusudana Battala, Anindita Dasgupta, Julie Ritter, Saritha Nair, Niranjan Saggurti, Jay G. Silverman, Donta Balaiah

The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess parent-adolescent child concordance on social norms related to gender equity in marriage in rural Maharashtra, India. Survey data on marital norms related to girl's marital age and choice, contraception, and marital violence (MV) were collected from unmarried adolescents (n = 113 girls, 116 boys) and their parents (n = 227 mothers, 203 fathers). Concordance was assessed using a Cohen's unweighted Kappa statistic, with analyses stratified by sex of parent and child. Analyses revealed fair (K = .25-.27) mother-daughter concordance on girls' right to choose when to marry, contraception use, and acceptability of MV. Father-son concordance was seen on girls' right to choose when (K = .22, slight) and who (K = .20, fair) to marry and MV acceptability (K = .53, moderate). No opposite sex parent-child concordance was revealed. Results indicate same but not opposite sex parent-child concordance on gender equity social norms related to marriage, suggesting same sex transfer of these norms.