Does Marriage Benefit Maternal Mental Health? New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya

Sangeetha Madhavan, University of Maryland
Estelle Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Kirsten Stoebenau, University of Maryland
Mike Wagner, University of Maryland

It has long been known that relationship quality and social support are key correlates of the mental health of mothers but the lion’s share of the scholarship is based in western contexts. It has only been in the past 5 years that researchers have started to pay attention to the social determinants of mental health in the African context. In this analysis, we draw on three waves of data from an ongoing longitudinal study in two low income communities in Nairobi, Kenya to unpack the complex relationship among marriage, kinship support and maternal mental health. Using cross-lagged and mediation models, we find some support for the protective role of unions for maternal mental health as well as the mediating effect of relationship quality but limited evidence for the mediating role of kinship support.