Child Marriages and the Constructions of Mental Health Among Young Female Adults in Africa: A Systematic Literature Review

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the empirical studies and scholarly articles on child marriages and mental health implications for young female adults in Africa. Methodology : A systematic literature review was conducted to understand child marriage and the construction of mental health implications for young female adults in Africa. The authors did a comprehensive search of electronic databases using relevant key terms. Findings: The review revealed that mental health and child marriage are under-researched in Africa. The majority of the studies on child marriages were centred on the impact, factors causing child marriage, and human and children’s rights being violated as a result of child marriage. This paper aims to fill in the gap in the literature on child marriage and mental health. Practical implications: Captivating propositions which could be used as a reference to understand child marriage and mental health implications for young female adults in Africa were proposed.