IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0212038.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating pathways linking women’s status and empowerment to skilled attendance at birth in Tanzania: A structural equation modeling approach

Author

Listed:
  • Kyoko Shimamoto
  • Jessica D Gipson

Abstract

Maternal and newborn mortality remain unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa where use of a skilled birth attendant (SBA) at delivery has remained low. Despite the recognized importance of women’s empowerment as a key determinant of maternal and newborn health, evidence from sub-Saharan Africa is more limited. Using data from the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (n = 4,340), this study employs a robust method–structural equation modeling (SEM)–to investigate the complex and multidimensional pathways through which women’s empowerment affects SBA use. The results show that women’s education and household decision-making are positively associated with SBA use. However, not all empowerment dimensions have similar effects. Attitudes towards sex negotiation and violence as well as early marriage are not significant factors in Tanzania. Mediation analysis also confirms the indirect effect of education on SBA use only through household decision-making. The findings underscore the utility of structural equation modeling when examining complex and multidimensional constructs, such as empowerment, and demonstrate potential causal inference to better inform policy and programmatic recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyoko Shimamoto & Jessica D Gipson, 2019. "Investigating pathways linking women’s status and empowerment to skilled attendance at birth in Tanzania: A structural equation modeling approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0212038
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212038
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212038&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0212038?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. United Nations UN, 2015. "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015," Working Papers id:7097, eSocialSciences.
    2. Saifuddin Ahmed & Andreea A Creanga & Duff G Gillespie & Amy O Tsui, 2010. "Economic Status, Education and Empowerment: Implications for Maternal Health Service Utilization in Developing Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(6), pages 1-6, June.
    3. United Nations UN, 2015. "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015," Working Papers id:7222, eSocialSciences.
    4. Pallitto, Christina C. & O'Campo, Patricia, 2005. "Community level effects of gender inequality on intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy in Colombia: testing the feminist perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 2205-2216, May.
    5. Naila Kabeer, 1997. "Women, Wages and Intra‐household Power Relations in Urban Bangladesh," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 261-302, April.
    6. Magadi, Monica Akinyi & Agwanda, Alfred O. & Obare, Francis O., 2007. "A comparative analysis of the use of maternal health services between teenagers and older mothers in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 1311-1325, March.
    7. World Bank, 2012. "World Development Report 2012 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2012]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4391, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sofia Castro Lopes & Deborah Constant & Sílvia Fraga & Nafissa Bique Osman & Daniela Correia & Jane Harries, 2021. "Socio-economic, demographic, and behavioural determinants of women’s empowerment in Mozambique," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Walle, Yabibal Mulualem, 2022. "Determinants of social cohesion: Cross-country evidence," IDOS Discussion Papers 18/2022, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    2. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West (ed.), 2018. "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in South Asia: Key Policy Priorities and Implementation Challenges," SSWA Books and Research Reports, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office, number brr5, May.
    3. Lu Gram & Joanna Morrison & Jolene Skordis-Worrall, 2019. "Organising Concepts of ‘Women’s Empowerment’ for Measurement: A Typology," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1349-1376, June.
    4. John C. Anyanwu, 2018. "Empirical Analysis of Key Drivers of Gender Equality in Tertiary Education Enrolment in Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(7), pages 197-213, 07-2018.
    5. Quamruzzaman, Amm & Lange, Matthew, 2016. "Female political representation and child health: Evidence from a multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 48-57.
    6. José Antonio Rodríguez Martín & Juan Dios Jiménez Aguilera & José Antonio Salinas Fernández & José María Martín Martín, 2016. "Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5: Progress in the Least Developed Countries of Asia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 489-504, November.
    7. Caroline Jennings Saul & Heiko Gebauer, 2018. "Digital Transformation as an Enabler for Advanced Services in the Sanitation Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Astrid Sneyers & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2013. "Girl Power in Agricultural Production: How Much Does it Yield? A Case-Study on the Dairy Sector in India," LICOS Discussion Papers 34113, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    9. Subramaniam, Mega & Pang, Natalie & Morehouse, Shandra & Asgarali-Hoffman, S. Nisa, 2020. "Examining vulnerability in youth digital information practices scholarship: What are we missing or exhausting?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Bruno F. Sunguya & Yue Ge & Linda B. Mlunde & Rose Mpembeni & Germana H. Leyna & Krishna C. Poudel & Niyati Parekh & Jiayan Huang, 2022. "Targeted and Population-Wide Interventions Are Needed to Address the Persistent Burden of Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age in Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Yong‐Shik Lee, 2020. "New general theory of economic development: Innovative growth and distribution," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 402-423, May.
    12. Leena Eklund Karlsson & Anne Leena Ikonen & Kothar Mohammed Alqahtani & Pernille Tanggaard Andersen & Subash Thapa, 2020. "Health Equity Lens Embedded in the Public Health Policies of Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Document Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    13. Valensisi, Giovanni & Gauci, Adrian, 2013. "Graduated without passing? The employment dimension and LDCs' prospects under the Istanbul Programme of Action," MPRA Paper 86966, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Yue-Hui Yu & Man-Man Peng, 2022. "Development and Poverty Dynamics in Severe Mental Illness: A Modified Capability Approach in the Chinese Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
    15. Lisa F. Clark, 2018. "Policy conflicts in global food assistance strategies: balancing local procurement and harmonization," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 211-222, February.
    16. Simon Meunier & Dale T. Manning & Loic Queval & Judith A. Cherni & Philippe Dessante & Daniel Zimmerle, 2019. "Determinants of the marginal willingness to pay for improved domestic water and irrigation in partially electrified Rwandan villages," Post-Print hal-02179229, HAL.
    17. Jussi T. S. Heikkila, 2020. "Classifying economics for the common good: Connecting sustainable development goals to JEL codes," Papers 2004.04384, arXiv.org.
    18. Menon Martina & Perali Federico & Veronesi Marcella, 2017. "“Leaving No Child Behind:” Preferences for Social Inclusion and Altruism," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, July.
    19. Shannon L. Sibbald & Nicole Haggerty, 2019. "Integrating Business and Medical Pedagogy to Accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 13(1), pages 92-101, March.
    20. Dedy Rahman Wijaya & Ni Luh Putu Satyaning Pradnya Paramita & Ana Uluwiyah & Muhammad Rheza & Annisa Zahara & Dwi Rani Puspita, 2022. "Estimating city-level poverty rate based on e-commerce data with machine learning," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 195-221, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0212038. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.