Table 1

Descriptive characteristics of study sample: married women in rural Bangladesh, 2013–2014 (N=3355)

Mean (SE) or %Range
Intimate partner violence (IPV) severity score *
 Physical IPV1.8 (3.1)1–26
 Psychological IPV4.2 (5.3)1–40
 Sexual IPV2.0 (2.4)1–12
Social connection, %
 Instrumental support†70.4%
 Natal family contact‡
  0–1 times7.9%
  2–5 times35.0%
  6–10 times19.9%
  >10 times37.3%
 Female companionship§
  Never8.4%
  Rarely9.3%
  Sometimes42.9%
  Often39.5%
Age in years (mean)24.4 (0.1)16–37
Age at first marriage in years (mean)16.4 (0.1)10–28
Number of lifetime births (mean)1.8 (0.1)0–8
Highest level of education attended, %
 Less than primary school10.2%
 Primary school27.1%
 Secondary school54.7%
 College or higher8.0%
Highest level of education attended by spouse, %
 Less than primary school22.5%
 Primary school32.9%
 Secondary school32.0%
 College or higher12.6%
Level of household wealth, %
 Low33.3%
 Medium33.5%
 High33.2%

  • Descriptive statistics generated from proc surveymeans and proc surveyfreq, and adjusted for sampling weights, clusters, and stratified design. Standard errors generated from unadjusted, unweighted commands.

  • *Actual ranges of IPV severity scores are presented; theoretical ranges are: 0–28 (physical), 0–40 (psychological) and 0–12 (sexual).

  • †Instrumental support: “Do you have someone in the village to go to when they are in financial trouble, sick, or need help with some other problem?” (Y/N).

  • ‡Natal family contact: “How often have you seen members of your natal family in the past year?” (0–1 times, 2–5 times, 6–10 times, more than 10 times).

  • §Female companionship: “How often do you visit other women in the village just for socializing?” (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often).