Unravelling adolescent girls’ aspirations in Nepal: Status and associations with individual-, household-, and community-level characteristics

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 11; p. e0258416
• Main Authors: Madjdian, Dónya S., Cunningham, Kenda, Bras, Hilde, Koelen, Maria, Vaandrager, Lenneke, Adhikari, Ramesh P., Talsma, Elise F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.11.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Health; Adolescents; Age; Biology and Life Sciences; Child; Child development; Children & youth; Cross-Sectional Studies; Decision making; Demographic aspects; Domains; Ecological effects; Economic aspects; Education; Educational Status; Female; Fertility; Gender; Girls; Households; Humans; Keller, Helen (1880-1968); Marriage; Medicine and Health Sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Motivation; Nepal; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; People and Places; Poverty; Psychological aspects; Regression analysis; Regression models; Residence Characteristics; Social aspects; Social Class; Social Sciences; Society; Student aspirations; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenage girls; Teenagers; Well being; Young Adult; Nepal; Netherlands
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258416

Adolescents' aspirations have potential to influence their present and future well-being. Limited knowledge exists on adolescent girls' aspirations and their determinants, particularly in low-income contexts. Using cross-sectional data, collected in 2018 in Nepal, within the Suaahara II Adolescent Panel Survey, (n = 840), adolescent girls' aspirations in several domains-education, occupation, marriage, fertility, health, and nutrition-were described. Regression models were estimated to explore associations between individual, household and community characteristics and these aspirations for all adolescents and separately for younger (10-14 years) and older (15-19 years) girls. Age, school attendance, and self-efficacy, as well as household wealth, caste/ethnicity, size, and agro-ecological zone of residence were significantly associated with aspirations, although effect sizes and significance varied by aspiration domain and age group. Findings underscore the curtailing effect of poverty on aspirations and the dynamic nature of aspirations. Initiatives to foster girls' aspirations must address both individual and contextual factors.