Population Council Research that makes a difference

Malawi Schooling and Adolescent Study

This six-round longitudinal study aims to identify critical aspects of school quality that put adolescents who face the dual challenges of poverty and HIV/AIDS on a safer, healthier, and more productive path to adulthood. Our research seeks to uncover those aspects of schooling that will lead to more protective behaviors and lower HIV risk among young men and women.

Allowing for further attrition of 3%–5% of the original sample, we would expect to enroll approximately 2,200 adolescents during the fifth round of data collection in June–August 2011. 

In Round 5, we will continue to test the sample for HIV and HSV-2 with biomarker collection. We will conduct analyses based on research findings, with a focus on the links between educational progression and attainment, numeracy and literacy, and infection status. Findings from the Round 4 qualitative in-depth interviews will inform the refinement of our quantitative survey questions on gender attitudes, power in intimate relationships, and girls' agency in Round 5.

A new qualitative module will be conducted during the fifth round of data collection, funded by the University of Wisconsin. The planned in-depth interviews will examine the social and material resources that influence how young mothers make decisions about their children's health. Using the Round 4 sample as a frame, we will randomly select 60 female respondents with at least one surviving and co-resident child and stratify the sample by cell phone ownership, selecting 30 respondents who live in households that own a cell phone and 30 from households that do not.  Cell phone ownership is both a simple proxy for household socioeconomic status and a device that may transform how individuals are able to access information and resources.  These data will complement the existing birth history, which collects demographic and health information about all children born to the respondent.

Links

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Rounds 5–7

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