Comparing Cohabiting Unions and Formal Marriages Among Adolescent Girls in Zambia: The Role of Premarital Fertility and Parental Support.

Purpose: In developing countries, approximately one in three girls marry before the age of 18; however, early marriage is not a homogenous experience. Cohabitation can be either a precursor or an alternative to marriage, yet studies and programs often conflate marriage types. The purpose of this study is to understand the underlying factors and stability of cohabiting and formal child marriage unions among adolescent girls.

Effects of sanitary pad distribution and reproductive health education on upper primary school attendance and reproductive health knowledge and attitudes in Kenya: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Adolescent girls' risk of school dropout and reproductive health (RH) challenges may be exacerbated by girls' attitudes toward their bodies and inability to manage their menstruation. We assessed effects of sanitary pad distribution and RH education on girls in primary grade 7 in Kilifi, Kenya.

Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial design was used.

Intra-grade variability in educational and psychosocial competencies of school going adolescent girls, in the coastal region of Kenya: implications for school based interventions.

Background: The onset of puberty and menarche is a potentially vulnerable time for girls. Educational and psychosocial competencies are regarded as essential tools that empower them to successfully navigate the adolescent years. The aim of this study is to evaluate to what extent school going girls are equipped with these key competencies, and how they vary across a given grade cohort.

Cluster randomized evaluation of the Nia Project: study protocol.

Background: The onset of puberty and menarche is a specifically vulnerable time for girls, during which they begin to show interest in the opposite sex, while becoming exposed to a myriad of external pressures, including sexual coercion or harassment from boys and men, expectations to marry from their families, and the need to perform well in primary school in order to qualify for secondary school. According to several qualitative studies in Africa, such pressures are exacerbated by girls' lack of knowledge of their bodies, their rights, and the implications of their decisions, and by their inability to manage puberty and adolescence safely and comfortably with appropriate menstrual health and hygiene management (MHM) products. The evaluation of the Nia Project is one of the first to analyze the individual and combined contributions of sanitary pads and provision of comprehensive reproductive health education on girls' education and reproductive health outcomes.

Correction: Is Working Risky or Protective for Married Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums in Kenya? Understanding the Association between Working Status, Savings and Intimate-Partner Violence.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Is Working Risky or Protective for Married Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums in Kenya? Understanding the Association between Working Status, Savings and Intimate-Partner Violence.

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that women's empowerment, though beneficial in many aspects, can also increase the risk of intimate-partner violence (IPV). This study seeks to examine the association between work and experience of physical violence among married adolescents, and to understand the impact of access to independent financial resources on this risk. Authors draw on the asset-building framework and the ecological model.

The Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya (AGI-K): study protocol.

Background: Many adolescent girls in Kenya and elsewhere face considerable risks and vulnerabilities that affect their well-being and hinder a safe, healthy, and productive transition into early adulthood. Early adolescence provides a critical window of opportunity to intervene at a time when girls are experiencing many challenges, but before those challenges have resulted in deleterious outcomes that may be irreversible. The Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya (AGI-K) is built on these insights and designed to address these risks for young adolescent girls.

Evaluation of Berhane Hewan: a program to delay child marriage in rural Ethiopia.

Context: Early marriage limits girls' opportunities and compromises their health, yet in Sub-Saharan Africa many girls are married before the age of 18, and few programs have sought to increase the age at marriage on the continent.

Methods: Berhane Hewan was a two-year pilot project conducted in 2004-2006 that aimed to reduce the prevalence of child marriage in rural Ethiopia, through a combination of group formation, support for girls to remain in school and community awareness. A quasi-experimental research design with baseline and endline surveys was used to measure changes in social and educational participation, marriage age, reproductive health knowledge and contraceptive use.

Prolonged second stage of labor and postpartum hemorrhage.

Objective: To examine the relationship between prolonged second stage and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of all cases of PPH which occurred at four Southern California hospitals in 2003. Cases were identified by ICD-9 codes and confirmed by chart reviews, and non-cases were randomly selected as controls.