Constructs of power and equity and their association with contraceptive use among men and women in rural Ethiopia and Kenya

Using samples of reproductive aged men and women from rural Ethiopia and Kenya, this study examines the associations between two scales measuring balances of power and equitable attitudes within relationships and modern contraceptive use. The scales are developed from the Sexual and Reproductive Power Scale (SRPS) and Gender Equitable Male (GEM) scale, which were originally developed to measure relationship power (SRPS) among women and gender equitable attitudes (GEM) among men. With the exception of Ethiopian women, a higher score on the balance of power scale was associated with significantly higher odds of reporting modern contraceptive use. For men and women in both countries, a higher score on the equitable attitudes scale was associated with significantly higher odds of reporting modern contraceptive use. However, only the highest categories of the scales are associated with contraceptive use, suggesting a threshold effect in the relationships between power, equity and contraceptive use. The results presented here demonstrate how elements of the GEM and SRPS scales can be used to create scales measuring balances of power and equitable attitudes within relationships that are associated with self-reporting of modern contraceptive use in two resource-poor settings. However, further work with larger sample sizes is needed to confirm these findings, and to examine the extent to which these scales can be applied to other social and cultural contexts.