Is Age Difference Between Partners Associated with Contraceptive Use Among Married Couples in Nigeria?

Abstract

An age difference between sexual partners is a social norm in most societies; typically, the man is older than the woman. The acceptability of unions in which the husband is considerably older than his wife is more variable, although relatively large age differences are found in patriarchal societies. Large age gaps are often accompanied by differences in maturity, life experiences, social position and financial resources, which may make relationships inherently unequal and a source of risk for women's health.1-5 For instance, asymmetries in age, education and economic circumstances compromise women's ability to negotiate safer sexual behavior. [1][2][3][6][7][8] The studies that have examined associations between partners' age differences and contraceptive behavior have concentrated on adolescent females' nonmarital relationships and on whether protection was used against STIs (especially HIV). [1][2][3][4][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The emphasis on adolescents and on nonmarital relationships may divert attention from more common age asymmetries and from the risks that may exist in such relationships. For instance, age differences in marital relationships are usually of little public interest, unlike situations involving unmarried adolescents. Furthermore, there is the need to examine the role that contraceptive use may play in preventing unintended pregnancy in age-asymmetric relationships, given that contraception has been found to be an effective means of fertility control for various health, economic and social reasons. 18Examination of age differences between marital partners is of particular importance in Sub-Saharan Africa, where, as a result of gender imbalances and cultural influences, males are frequently in charge of what happens (or does not happen) within relationships, including sexual interactions and decisions regarding family size and contraceptive use. The limited decision-making power of women in this setting often impedes their ability to achieve their fertility goals. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Moreover, in a patriarchal context, pronatal views tend to be stronger among men than among women, and husbands' real or perceived opposition to family planning may prevent wives who want to delay or stop childbearing from using contraceptives.

Examining the Role of Couples’ Characteristics in Contraceptive use in Nigeria and Zambia

“…It was expected that wife or husband reporting more children will encourage the use of contraceptive in a union because the partner who has more children would like to limit births in the current union, but this was not the case in Nigeria, supporting a previous finding in Nigeria by Ibisomi 16 . On the other hand, it is more likely that the partner who has more children would want to have children with the current spouse, but this depends on the number of children they have outside and in the current union, which is not available in the data used for this study.…”

“…Zambia has less than 2% of couples who had no education, unlike Nigeria where slightly above a quarter had no education. The positive association between spousal education difference and contraceptive use stresses the importance of education in behavior modification toward uptake of contraceptives by couples 16,18,21,22 . Couples who are not educated are not likely to know the benefits of optimal spacing and limiting childbearing.…”

Factors explaining the North–South differentials in contraceptive use in Nigeria: A nonlinear decomposition analysis

“…Ideational or psychosocial variables have also been found to be strongly associated with contraceptive use, including perceived self-efficacy to take actions related to contraceptive use, spousal communication about family size and contraceptive use, perceived social approval of contraception, ideal family size, and misconceptions about contraceptives and family planning (Okigbo et al 2017;Babalola et al 2015;Babalola 2017;Gueye et al 2015;Ankomah, Anyanti, and Oladosu 2011;Avidime et al 2010;Tumlinson et al 2013). Studies have also found male partners' characteristics to be associated with contraceptive use, including age, education, and family size desires (Ejembi et al 2015;Oyediran, Ishola, and Feyisetan 2002;Ibisomi 2014). Furthermore, women's autonomy and decision-making agency have been positively linked with contraceptive use (James-Hawkins et al 2016).…”

Prevalence of Family Planning Practices among Women Influenced by Husband’s Socio Demography and Decision Making

“…This indicated that husband's with secondary and tertiary education level had more influence on FP, whereby they prefer to choose male sterilization and condoms (gubhaju 2009). Moreover, education level can influence the decision making on the use of contraceptive as a FP method (Hamid et al 2011;Ibisomi 2014). …”