In this article, we construct and test a micro-level event-centered approach to the study of armed conflict and behavioral responses in the general population. Event-centered approaches have been successfully used in the macro-political study of armed conflict but have not yet been adopted in micro-behavioral studies. The micro-level event-centered approach that we advocate here includes decomposition of a conflict into discrete political and violent events, examination of the mechanisms through which they affect behavior, and consideration of differential risks within the population. We focus on two mechanisms: instability and threat of harm. We test this approach empirically in the context of the recent decade-long armed conflict in Nepal, using detailed measurements of conflict-related events and a longitudinal study of first migration, first marriage, and first contraceptive use. Results demonstrate that different conflict-related events independently shaped migration, marriage, and childbearing and that they can simultaneously influence behaviors in opposing directions. We find that violent events increased migration, but political events slowed migration. Both violent and political events increased marriage and contraceptive use net of migration. Overall, this micro-level event-centered approach yields a significant advance for the study of how armed conflict affects civilian behavioral responses.

Theories of family stability and change, demographic processes, and social psychological influences on behavior all posit that parental attitudes and beliefs are a key influence on their children’s behavior. Though we have evidence of these effects in Western populations, there is little information regarding this social mechanism in non-Western contexts. Furthermore, comparisons of mothers’ and fathers’ independent roles in these crucial intergenerational mechanisms are rare. This paper uses measures from a ten-year family panel study featuring independent interviews with both mothers and fathers in rural Nepal to investigate these issues. We test the association of specific attitudes, rather than broad ideational domains, about childbearing and old-age care with sons’ subsequent marriage behavior. Our results indicate that both mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes have important and independent influences on sons’ marriage behavior. Simultaneous study of both parents’ attitudes reveals that gender-specific parenting contexts can shape the relationship between parental attitudes and children’s behaviors. This crucial mechanism of intergenerational continuity and change is strong in this non-Western setting, with substantial implications for studies of intergenerational influences on behavior in all settings.

As the world undergoes rapid ageing, informal support from friends and relatives is becoming especially important among older adults in middle- and low-income countries, where formalised social protections may be limited. We use new data from a cohort of adults aged 40 and older in rural South Africa to explore how receipt of emotional support differs by gender and marital status. Our findings suggest that women are more likely to get emotional support than men and have more sources of support. Moreover, women are more likely to get emotional support from relatives, whereas men are more likely to get support from friends. In regard to marital status, married people are more likely to get emotional support and have more sources of support than people who are not married. However, separated/divorced and widowed people are more likely to get emotional support from relatives and have more sources of non-spousal support than married people. These findings point towards gaps in informal systems of support, and the particular importance of considering men and unmarried (especially never-married) people when designing policies to offer social protections to older populations.

Few studies have examined the causes and consequences of marital dissolution in non-Western settings. This article explores the fundamental factors that may predict marital dissolution in a mainly agrarian setting in South Asia, where collectivism has historically been valued over individualism and where life is centered on the family. Using event history analyses with retrospective life history data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study, conducted in rural Nepal, I explore the possible predictors of marital dissolution. Results suggest that couples in which wives married at older ages and chose their spouse in conjunction with their parents face lower risk of marital dissolution, while wives’ work increases the risk. Moreover, couples married for longer durations and couples who have more children face lower risks of marital dissolution. The influences of many of these factors have changed over the last few decades, pointing toward the important role of changing social context on marital trajectories.

Objectives: We investigate how caregiving for grandchildren is associated with cognitive function among rural South Africans, and whether the association differs by gender. We further investigate whether measures of physical activity or social engagement mediate this association. Methods: Data were from interviews with 3668 Black, South African grandparents in the “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa” study, conducted between 2014 and 2015. Results: We find that caregiving grandparents have better cognitive function than non-caregiving grandparents, and this association does not differ by grandparent gender. Although grandchild caregiving is associated with physical activity and social engagement measures, and some of these measures are associated with cognitive function, we do not find conclusive evidence of mediation. Discussion: Providing care for grandchildren may stimulate cognitive function for both grandmothers and grandfathers. Neither physical activity nor social engagement explains the association between caregiving and cognitive function.

This study examines the influence of marital discord on separation and divorce in a rural South Asian setting. We know little about how marital discord influences marital outcomes in settings with low personal freedom and limited access to independence. Using a sample of 674 couples from the Chitwan Valley Family Study in Nepal, this paper investigates the impact of marital discord on the rate of marital dissolution, and the extent to which wives’ and husbands’ perceptions of discord influence dissolution. Results reveal that (a) spouses’ perceptions of marital discord increase the rate of marital dissolution, (b) both husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of discord have an important influence, and (c) the influence of wives’ perceptions of discord is independent of their husbands’ perceptions. Overall, these findings suggest that both spouses’ perceptions of discord are important for marital outcomes, even in settings where the costs of marital dissolution are relatively high.

The relationship between mental health and receipt of social support is not well understood in low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we focus on a cohort of older adults (40-plus) in rural South Africa to unpack associations between mental health and receipt of social support, and the extent to which marital status modifies these associations. We use baseline data from a population-based study, Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI), conducted between 2014 and 2015. Our results suggest that men and women who report depressive symptoms are less likely to receive social support: women are less likely to receive emotional and financial support, and men are less likely to receive physical and financial support. Both men and women who are married or partnered are more likely to receive social support than their non-married counterparts. The association between depressive symptomology and receipt of social support differs for women who are separated/divorced and for men who are widowed. Specifically, the association between having depressive symptoms and receiving physical or financial support is more positive for separated/divorced women than their married/cohabiting counterparts; for men, the association between having depressive symptoms and receiving physical support is more positive for widowed men than their married/cohabiting counterparts. Our findings speak to the complicated associations between social support, marriage and mental health in later life and the different experiences that men and women may have.

Large families can have a negative impact on the health and well-being of women, children, and their communities. Although 60 percent of people in our rural Nepalese sample report that two children is their ideal number, nearly half of the married women continue childbearing after their second child. We explore the influence of women’s and their neighbors’ family size preferences on women’s progression to higher parity birth, comparing this influence across two cohorts. We find that a) neighbors’ family size preferences influence women’s fertility, b) older cohorts of women are more influenced by their neighbors’ preferences than younger cohorts of women, and c) the influence of neighbors’ preferences is independent of women’s own preferences.