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Youth Empowerment - Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)

Youth Empowerment - Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) is a multi-item measure of empowerment among youth, covering 6 subscales: violence attitudes, digital connectedness, work and earnings, health facility access major asset ownership and reproductive health knowledge.

Categories

Geographies Tested: Ethiopia,Haiti,Malawi,Mali,Nepal,Nigeria,Philippines,Senegal,Uganda,Zambia

Populations Included: Female, Male

Age Range: Adolescents

Items:

Violence Attitudes
1. Wife beating is justified if:
a. Wife goes out without telling husband
b. Wife neglects the children
c. Wife argues with husband
d. Wife refuses to have sex with husband
e. Wife burns the food

Digital Connectedness: Banking and Internet
2. Owns a mobile telephone.
3. Uses mobile phone for financial transactions.
4. Has an account in a bank or other financial institution.

Response Options:
Yes
No

5. Use of internet

Response Options:
Never
Yes but not in last 12 months
Yes in last 12 months

6. Frequency of internet use in last month:

Response Options:
Not at all
Less than once a week
At least once a week
Almost every day

Work and Earnings
7. Currently working

Response Options:
Yes
No

8. Worked in last 12 months

Response Options:
No
In past year but not currently
Currently working

9. Earnings:

Response Options:
No earnings
In-kind earnings
Cash

Health Facility Access
10. The following is a big problem to get medical advice/treatment when sick:
a. Getting permission to go.
b. Getting money needed for treatment.
c. Distance to health facility.
d. Not wanting to go alone.

Response Options:
Big problem
Not a problem

Major Asset Ownership
11. Owns house alone or jointly.
12. Owns land alone or jointly.

Response Options:
Yes
No

Reproductive health knowledge
13. Knows ovulatory cycle.
14. Knows postpartum fecundability.

Response Options:
Yes
No

15. Knowledge of contraceptive methods

Response Options:
None
Only traditional/folkloric method
Modern method

Scoring Procedures

The mean of the item responses is calculated.

Original Citation

MacQuarrie, K. L. D. (2021). Measuring youth empowerment. DHS Working Papers No. 179. Rockville, Maryland, USA: ICF.


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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