Child marriage and its consequences for adolescent mental health in conflict-affected contexts: evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan

Over the past decade there has been burgeoning interest in better understanding the complex economic and social drivers of child marriage to support evidence-informed prevention efforts. By contrast, notwithstanding the estimated 12 million girls globally who marry each year as children, the evidence base on the consequences of child marriage is much thinner – as are programming efforts to support ever-married girls. Moreover, existing evidence focuses predominantly on the education, physical health, and income-generation challenges that married adolescents face. There is only limited research exploring the effects of child marriage on adolescent girls’ psychosocial well-being and mental health, particularly in conflict-affected contexts. To contribute to these research lacunae, this article draws on cross-country mixed-methods data with 8,567 young people aged 15–24 collected in three conflict-affected geographies between 2021 and 2023: the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh; Palestinian and Syrian refugee and host communities in Jordan; and two conflict-affected zones in Ethiopia. Drawing on a capabilities conceptual framework, the research finds girls and women who married before age 18 have higher rates of emotional distress (as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12), higher rates of depression (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and are less resilient (as measured by the Child and Youth Resilience Measure) compared with their never-married peers. Girls who married as children also have significantly less access to socio-emotional support from friends and trusted adults. Mobility constraints shaped by conservative gender norms, and exclusion from educational opportunities, further limit married girls’ opportunities to develop peer networks and to interact with service providers who could refer them to sources of information and support. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of these findings, especially the importance of investing in safe spaces for married girls to interact with peers and trusted adults, while simultaneously engaging with key gatekeepers, including husbands and in-laws.