The Lived Experience of Child Marriage in the United States.

Despite international and domestic calls to end child marriage, 48 U.S. states permit the marriage of minors younger than age 18 as of August 2018. In developing nations, child marriage is associated with a wide range of adverse economic, health, and mental health outcomes, yet little research has been done to understand its effects on developed nations such as the United States. This study is the first to interview adults who were married as children in the United States, to investigate the reasons why the marriages occurred, and qualitatively understand the experiences of married American children. 21 participants (20 females and 1 male) self-selected into this study to complete an online questionnaire and be interviewed by phone. Participants were married between ages 13 and 17. Most participants (n = 18) reported physical, sexual, financial, or emotional abuse during their marriage as well as unwanted and/or unplanned pregnancies. This study shows some important social justice issues related to consent and the qualitative differences inherent in deciding to marry during childhood. Notably, this study did not find that pregnancy was the reason most participants married as minors, as some policy debates across the U.S. report.

Desire for perioperative information and parental ethnicity.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the role of ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic variables in parental desire for information regarding children's surgery. AIM: To compare anesthetic and surgical information desired between English- and Spanish-speaking White and Hispanic mothers of children undergoing outpatient surgery. BACKGROUND: Parents report wanting to receive detailed information regarding children's preoperative care; however, variables such as parent ethnicity and language spoken have not been accounted for in understanding desire for information. METHODS/MATERIALS: One hundred and eighty-one mothers of children undergoing outpatient surgery, elective surgery, and general anesthesia were recruited and categorized into one of three groups: English-speaking White (ESW, n=79), English-speaking Hispanic (ESH, n = 63), and Spanish-speaking Hispanic (SSH, n = 39). In addition to providing demographic questionnaire, mothers completed the Parental Desire for Information (PDI) questionnaire, a 14-item measure of surgery and anesthesia-related statements. RESULTS: Overall, mothers desired receiving information about the majority of the items on the PDI. As compared to ESW mothers, SSH mothers and ESH mothers were overrepresented in the 'have a right to know' response option, with significant differences existing in items concerning alternative methods of anesthesia, details of needles used, and location of PACU and OR. CONCLUSIONS: Anesthesiologists should tailor the provision of preoperative information based on ethnicity and language of mothers involved. Ethnic and language differences shown in this study may exist in other populations as well.