The study ended with the participation of 30 women whose demographic characteristics are shown in Table 1. After analyzing the data, 389 open codes, 14 subcategories, 4 categories and 2 main categories were extracted, which are described below (Table 2).
Table1. Demographic characteristics of participants
Variable
|
Dimension
|
Frequency (%)
|
Age
|
<16
|
6(30)
|
16-20
|
16(53.33)
|
20-25
|
8(26.66)
|
Education
|
illiterate
|
4(13.33)
|
Under diploma
|
14(46.66)
|
diploma
|
8(26.66)
|
Higher than diploma
|
4(13.33)
|
Residence
|
Urban
|
11(36.66)
|
Rural
|
19(63.33)
|
The age of first marriage
|
<15
|
7(23.33)
|
15-16
|
10(33.33)
|
16-18
|
13(43.33)
|
Type of marriage
|
Forced
|
10(33.33)
|
traditional
|
12(40)
|
Self-choice
|
8(26.66)
|
Age difference with spouse
|
<5
|
7(23.33)
|
5-10
|
13(43.33)
|
>10
|
10(33.33)
|
Abortion background
|
Yes
|
11(36.66)
|
No
|
19(63.33)
|
Table2. Main categories, categories, subcategories and codes extracted from the analysis of interviews
Main categories
|
Categories
|
Subcategories
|
Codes
|
Negative consequences
|
Individual physical and psychological problems
|
high-risk pregnancies and childbirths
|
unwanted pregnancy, unawareness of how to control fertility, infant mortality, increase of abortion risk, recurrent abortion, abnormal delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and short interval between births
|
physical illnesses
|
blood pressure, underweight, severe headaches, food shortage, delayed physical growth, iron deficiency and backache
|
yearning and remorse
|
yearning for childhood, yearning for adolescence, yearning for love, yearning for studying, remorse for early marriage and remorse for early pregnancy
|
psychological challenges
|
depression, suicide ideation and attempt, feelings of inferiority and low self-confidence
|
Family problems
|
Experience of violence
|
economic, physical, psychological, and sexual violence
|
Dissatisfaction with married life
|
emotional divorce, divorce and sexual dissatisfaction
|
Experience of multiple roles
|
role of child-wife, mother-child, and bride-child, being the head of the household, staying in the role of child and being thrown into the adult world
|
Lack of independence in family life
|
powerlessness in decisions for home, powerlessness in decisions for children, and powerlessness in determining family relationships
|
Social problems
|
Social deviance
|
having an emotional / sexual relationship outside the family, a desire to run away from home, and a desire to drink alcohol and smoking
|
Deprivation of social and health services
|
lack of access to necessary health services, lack of access to social services such as counseling centers, lack of social support in society, deprivation of the media and low knowledge of technology
|
Social Isolation
|
leaving relationships with peers, being locked up at home, interacting with people who are incompatible in terms of age etc.
|
Deprivation of job and educational opportunities
|
dropouts, unemployment, low literacy and lack of skills
|
Positive
Consequences
|
Gaining support and empowerment
|
receiving intra-family support
|
receiving information support, receiving financial support, receiving support for childbirth and childcare
|
improving living conditions
|
change in her economic status, change in her family's economic status, and escaping bad family circumstances
|
opportunity for progress and empowerment
|
returning to school, taking a job, engaging in favorite skills, self-confidence, and self-efficacy
|
Negative Consequences of Early Marriage: Early marriage posed many challenges for women at various individual, family, and social levels, leading most participants to regret for the marriage.
1- Individual physical and psychological problems: Marriage in childhood endangers women's personal health and makes them confront with more physical and psychological problems such as high-risk pregnancies and childbirths, physical illnesses, yearning and remorse, and psychological challenges.
High-risk pregnancies and childbirths: It consists of codes such as unwanted pregnancy, unawareness of how to control fertility, infant mortality, increase of abortion risk, recurrent abortion, abnormal delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and short interval between births.
"Honestly, I didn't want to get pregnant, but I didn't know how to prevent it. There was no one to guide me. I got pregnant very soon." (Participant, 5)
"I have had two abortions. Most of those who get married at a young age have such an experience." (Participant, 14)
"I really wanted to give birth naturally, but I couldn't give birth to my baby, so I had a cesarean section." (Participant, 28)
"For the first four years of my life, I was pregnant all the time and my baby was not born alive. My body had nothing left." (Participant, 17)
"I became very weak after childbirth and I had a lot of problems." (Participant, 30)
Since adolescent women do not have the proper knowledge and skills of contraception, they usually become pregnant unwantedly and soon after marriage, and because they are not physically and mentally ready for childbirth, they face many problems so that she endangers the health of herself and her children, and it may even lead to the death of both..
Having physical illnesses: This subcategory includes the codes of blood pressure, underweight, severe headaches, food shortage, delayed physical growth, iron deficiency and backache.
"I had my first abortion then I had a nosebleed two months later. I went to the doctor. They told me that my blood pressure had gone up. Every once in a while, my blood pressure rises and it bothers me." (Participant, 4)
"I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like marriage made me have a severe headache. I went to a doctor and he said I had a migraine." (Participant, 10)
"I'm young, but every part of my body is in pain. Sometimes my backache drives me crazy." (Participant, 18)
Girls who get married as children have many physical problems after marriage that can endanger their health and lower their quality of life.
Yearning and remorse: This subcategory includes the codes of yearning for childhood, yearning for adolescence, yearning for love, yearning for studying, remorse for early marriage and remorse for early pregnancy.
"I have always yearned the childhood that I never had. I always wanted to ride a bike, but they gave me to marriage early. After marriage, if you ride a bike, everyone will blame you." (Participant, 20)
"When I see some of my friends got married with love and affection my heart breaks, I feel very sorry that I wish I had fallen in love. It's annoying that I can't experience love anymore." (Participant, 30)
"The fact that I didn't study and don't have a job is the biggest regret of my life. If I go back in time, I would never get married soon." (Participant, 6)
"I cry when I hear from some people that the best experiences of their lives are marriage and having children, because it has been the worst experience of my life, because for none of them I had love and heartfelt desire." (Participant, 3)
"I regret when I thought I could enjoy my marriage and having children, but because of my early marriage, everything was ruined." (Participant, 1)
Child marriage prevents a child from experiencing childhood and adolescence like their peers, and this annoys them in the future, and in the case of marriage and pregnancy, which can be a woman's sweetest experiences, early marriage makes them the worst happenings in life. These issues can cause girls who have been married as children to face a lot of yearnings and regrets. Also, when they see their successful peers who have been educated and have a job, they inevitably compare it with their lives and circumstances, and have more regret.
Psychological Challenges: This subcategory consists of the codes of depression, suicide ideation and attempt, feelings of inferiority and low self-confidence.
"I haven't laughed from bottom of my heart for a long time. I'm always sad why I got married so soon. I'm not in the mood for anyone. My sister tells me I’m depressed." (Participant, 12)
"I have decided several times to kill myself and get rid of this life. Once I poured oil on myself, but as soon as I lit the fire, my brother-in-law understood and did not let me kill myself." (Participant, 12)
"My self-confidence is very low. I feel worthless. I don't like to be with others at all. When I want to talk, I mispronounce some words." (Participant, 20)
Child marriage puts a lot of pressure on women and causes them a lot of psychological problems, and because they have no skills or abilities to solve these problems, it lowers their self-confidence and increases their feelings of inferiority, which leads to depression, and in the end, it can even lead to suicide.
2 - Family problems: Families that are formed by the child marriage are more fragile than other families due to their circumstances and face many problems that in some cases these problems can eradicate the foundation of the family.
Experience of violence: This subcategory includes codes of economic, physical, psychological, and sexual violence. Many participants reported experiencing a variety of types of violence.
"I’m not financially independent. Every time I ask my husband for money, he annoys me a lot to give me money. Sometimes he forces me to stop another request for the money he gives me." (Participant, 14)
"It's been less than two months since our marriage, my husband gave me a beating. He is very violent. He often beats me for trivial things. "(Participant, 15)
"I've heard a lot of insults from my husband. He says a lot of ugly things to me. Sometimes he yells at me in the family gathering and says ugly things to me." (Participant, 1)
"I didn't know much about sex in the beginning, so I didn't know how to please my husband. My husband sometimes got angry and told me I didn't know anything and he would do whatever he wanted, even if I wasn't happy." (Participant, 8)
"I was very annoyed the first night and that's why I never enjoy sex anymore. Every time we do this, I get more annoyed. My sister, who got married early, says like me, she doesn't enjoy it at all." (Participant, 25)
Girls who marry as children have less awareness, skills, and power in life, as well as less knowledge of social rights, sexual issues, and married life. Thus they are abused by their husbands. Also, because they grew up in a traditional society where talking about sex has always been a taboo and they have not been properly familiar with sex in the education system, they do not have a proper understanding of sex and cannot meet the needs of their husbands. Therefore, they are sexually abused and may even suffer severe injuries.
Dissatisfaction with married life: The codes of emotional divorce, divorce and sexual dissatisfaction are related to this subcategory. Most women said they did not have a desired married life, which in some cases led to divorce, and in cases that still there was life emotional divorce and sexual dissatisfaction were seen.
"My husband and I don't understand each other at all. Sometimes we don't talk for ten minutes all week. If it weren't for my baby, I would separate." (Participant, 23)
"I had a disagreement and argument with my husband from the very beginning of my life. He said “you don't know anything”. Our life wasn't good at all. We fought with each other all the time and I had to divorce him." (Participant, 12)
"My husband and I have large age difference, so we can't satisfy each other sexually." (Participant, 6)
Some of the participants got married by force or due to poor social and economic conditions and without love and interest, and had a big age difference with their husbands, so they experienced many problems in life and were not satisfied with their married life.
Experience of multiple roles: The role of child-wife, mother-child, and bride-child, being the head of the household, staying in the role of child and being thrown into the adult world were among the codes of this subcategory. Many women, although still children, had to take on multiple roles at the same time, which put a lot of pressure on them.
"When I got married, I was very young. I used to watch cartoons in my father-in-law's house. My husband argued with me many times about this. He said, 'Why are you behaving like this? You grew up. You mustn’t watch cartoon.' "(Participant, 26)
"We lived with my husband's family. They expected me to behave like a perfect woman, but I didn't know many things. Whenever they had guests, after guest went they would argue with me a lot, saying my behavior was wrong." (Participant, 2)
"When my husband died, I was 17 years old and had a two-month-old baby. I had to be both a father and a mother to my child while I was still a child." (Participant, 4)
"It wasn't until a month after we got married that I realized I was pregnant. I got confused; I didn't know what to do. I was just crying. I was a child myself. When my baby was born, I couldn't protect her at all." (Participant, 23)
"I was a child myself, but I was expected to be both a good wife and a good mother. No one understood me." (Participant, 29)
"I feel like I didn't have adolescence and youngness. As soon as I came to my senses I saw that I was thrown out of my childhood world into the adult world. I didn't understand anything as a teenager and a young person, and that bothers me." (Participant, 1)
With early marriage, children are forced to take on several different roles at the same time. Each of these roles has its own expectations, and because they have not been trained for any of these roles, they are not prepared, so they are under a lot of pressure.
Lack of independence in family life: This subcategory consists of codes of powerlessness in decisions for home, powerlessness in decisions for children, and powerlessness in determining family relationships.
"My husband makes his decisions without telling me anything. He hasn't asked my opinion at all." (Participant, 8)
"My mother-in-law makes a lot of decisions for me. She says “You are very young. You don't have much experience”. (Participant, 4)
"I can't even wear my favorite clothes; I didn't want to have children at all, but my husband's family kept on me about it so I had to do it." (Participant, 2)
"When you get married as a child, everyone likes to interfere in your life because they think you don't understand anything of life." (Participant, 30)
"I wanted to name my daughter as I like, but my husband and his family chose something else. They didn't ask me if I like this name or not." (Participant, 18)
Child marriage makes girls be more vulnerable in their married life and have less power of bargaining and negotiation to advance their goals. There should also be space for others to interfere, as adults think that the young bride does not have enough experience and should be trained to live, so they allow themselves to interfere in their most personal matters.
3- Social problems: In addition to individual and family problems, young women also face problems and limitations in the society that can make living conditions more difficult for them.
Social deviance: This subcategory includes the codes of having an emotional / sexual relationship outside the family, a desire to run away from home, and a desire to drink alcohol and smoking.
"I'm 22 years younger than my husband. We don't understand each other at all. I often go on social networks and talk with other people." (Participant, 17)
"For the first few years of my life, I just cried. My husband is a smoker. I started smoking, firstly he disagreed but then he didn't say anything to me." (Participant, 2)
"In order to think less about my life and grieve less, I sometimes drink. We always have it in the fridge, my husband drinks a lot." (Participant, 14)
Marriage in childhood causes many problems for girls. In some cases, these girls are drawn to social deviance to get rid of these conditions or to endure them.
Deprivation of social and health services: This subcategory consists of the codes of lack of access to necessary health services, lack of access to social services such as counseling centers, lack of social support in society, deprivation of the media and low knowledge of technology.
"When I got married, I didn't know many things. There was no special place for me to ask for their help and advice." (Participant, 11)
"I studied until the third grade of elementary school. I don't know much about education. I can't even work with new phones. I don't know anything about the Internet, too." (Participant, 15)
"I and all those who get married at a really young age have our own special needs, but there is no special place for us." (Participant, 29)
Despite many social and health needs of girls who have experienced early marriage, there is no institution or organization in the society to support these girls and no special training and privileges are provided for them. Lack of sufficient literacy and media skills and abilities is another problem for these women, which makes them not even know how to find the answers to their questions.
Social Isolation: This subcategory includes the codes of leaving relationships with peers, being locked up at home, and interacting with people who are incompatible in terms of age etc.
"When I got married, I cut off most of my school friends. I had nobody left. I felt very bad." (Participant, 6)
"My husband doesn't like me to be in a relationship with my single friends. I had nobody left to confide in." (Participant, 20)
"In my husband's relatives, those who are married are all too old and I cannot be intimate with single people. That's why I have more relationships with people who are older than me. We cannot understand each other. I hate having to deal with people who are older than me and we don't understand each other. "(Participant, 17)
"After marriage, I had to stay at home all the time. My husband is the driver of a big truck. He is at home no more than 4-5 days. When he leaves, I have to stay home. Because he dislikes I go somewhere alone. "(Participant, 26)
Girls who marry early fall out of the world of their peers and are forced to have relationships with people who have large age difference with them. This makes them less inclined to have relationships with others, which in turn leads to more social isolation. Also, it is not culturally acceptable for married women to associate with single girls, so girls who have early marriages will soon be separated from their peers.
Deprivation of job and educational opportunities: This subcategory includes the codes of dropouts, unemployment, low literacy and lack of skills. Most participants stated that after marriage they were forced to drop out of school, or that they had studied for a short time, so they did not have the opportunity to learn a skill due to marrying early and getting busy with life and child care.
"I was 16 when I got married and then I had to drop out of school. My husband used to say, 'Why does a woman want to study!?' "(Participant, 2)
"I got married as a child. I didn't know anything. Now that I want to have a job, I don't have any skills. I wish I hadn't gotten married and I studied to be a person." (Participant,3)
"I was good at tailoring. I was learning dress designing with my aunt. My aunt always told me that I had the best talent, but when I got married, I could continue my work for a month or two. Then I knew that I was pregnant. I got busy with child care and quit my work. "(Participant, 19)
Many children are forced to drop out of school after marriage and are forced to stay housewives and have no financial independence because they are neither educated nor skilled.
Positive Consequences: Marriage in childhood is not only associated with negative consequences, but in some cases these marriages can be useful and improve the lives and health of young girls, or at least save them from the bad conditions of the paternal family.
1- Gaining support and empowerment: This category consists of subcategories of receiving intra-family support, improving living conditions and the opportunity for progress and empowerment.
Receiving intra-family support: This subcategory includes the codes of receiving information support, receiving financial support, receiving support for childbirth and childcare.
"I didn't know anything about married life, but my sister-in-law, who had an early marriage, explained everything to me before the wedding."(Participant, 13)
"My husband and I were both very young, so my father helped us, and my husband's family didn't let us be under much pressure. They said, 'You're too young, we have to take care of you.' "(Participant, 16)
"When I told my mother-in-law that I was pregnant, she got very happy. She told me not to worry at all and she would take care of my baby herself. Indeed, it was as she said. She did everything related to my baby until my baby reached 3 years old. "(Participant, 9)
Because early marriage is accepted by parents in the study area, young couples are more supported by their families after marriage.
Improving living conditions: The codes of change in her economic status, change in her family's economic status, and escaping bad family circumstances fall into this subcategory.
"I lived in a poor family. When I got married, my situation changed a lot. I had things I couldn't even dream of. It's true that my husband is 10 years older than me, but I'm very happy with my life." (Participant, 7)
"My father was an addict and he sold drugs. Our house was always full of addicts. My uncle was always very worried that my father's friends would hurt me. That's why he took me for his son. He supported us a lot. We have the best life now. Maybe if I hadn't gotten married sooner, my life would have been ruined and I would have killed myself. "(Participant, 27)
In some cases, girls living in economically and socially disadvantaged families made significant changes to their lives with early marriage. Early marriage made it easier for them to achieve better conditions so this made them happy and satisfied.
Opportunities for progress and empowerment: This includes the codes of returning to school, taking a job, engaging in favorite skills, self-confidence, and self-efficacy.
"Before I got married, I dropped out of school. After marriage, my husband helped me study. He was the teacher of the village. My mother-in-law helped with the housework. That's why I spent most of my time studying. I was accepted in the entrance exam of university of medical sciences. Maybe if I hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have thought about studying. "(Participant, 21)
"Before I got married, I really wanted to be a hairdresser, but my family didn’t allow me. After marriage my husband took me to hairdressing courses. Now I have a hair salon and I am really happy with my life. "(Participant, 7)
"When my first child was born, I felt very good. I felt I grew up. I enjoyed a lot to see that I could take care of my kid. I did my best to take care of her in the best possible way. When all my husband's family members praised me, my self-confidence increased." (Participant, 22)
"My husband is a good person and helps me a lot to be someone for myself. When I finished my sewing class and got a shop, I felt good about myself. I feel like I can do anything well." (Participant, 21)
"I really enjoy seeing everyone count on me and get help and advice from me in their work, especially when my husband's family or my family is complimenting me in front of others." (Participant, 13)
Some of the participants grew up in families that put a lot of restrictions on them and prevented them from doing what they loved to do, but by getting married, these restrictions were removed and they pursued their favorite interests and skills, and this issue has led to the flourishing of their talents. Some other women who were able to cope with life's problems after marriage also felt good, which made them more satisfied.