# Reproductive Coercion and Related Risk Factors

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $42,163

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Ms. Boyce aims to become a leading epidemiologist investigating the intersection of intimate partner violence
and reproductive health to improve women and girls’ reproductive health outcomes. Specifically, Ms. Boyce
plans to develop a body of evidence on risk factors for perpetration of reproductive coercion (RC) to inform the
development of an evidence-based RC primary prevention model targeting men. Reproductive coercion,
experienced by 8-20% of women and girls globally, refers to male partner behaviors that interfere with female
control over contraception and pregnancy. RC is a critical, yet under-recognized barrier to female contraceptive
use and risk factor for unintended pregnancy. To date, no known research has examined risk factors for male
perpetration of RC, primarily due to the absence of a validated measure and lack of data from men, inhibiting
the development of RC primary prevention models. The overarching objective of this study is to identify
opportunities to improve reproductive health outcomes for women by examining men’s RC perpetration. Ms.
Boyce plans to do this by 1) assessing the reliability and validity of a measure of men’s RC perpetration and 2)
identifying related individual and social network-based risk factors among husbands of adolescent wives in
West Africa. Women and girls living in contexts such as West Africa in which social norms encourage their
early and frequent childbearing may be particularly vulnerable to RC. To accomplish these objectives, Ms.
Boyce proposes to leverage existing longitudinal data from a representative sample of 773 husbands of
adolescent wives, as well as social network data from 165 husbands and influential peer dyads, living in rural
Niger (PI: JG Silverman). Aim 1: Assess the reliability and validity of a measure of male RC perpetration.
Aim 2: Characterize men who perpetrate RC to identify modifiable risk factors for RC primary prevention.
Aim 3: Identify social norm-based risk factors for RC by assessing how husbands’ perceived family
planning norms and their peers’ family planning attitudes and behaviors are associated with husbands’ RC
perpetration. This research will be conducted under the mentorship of sponsor, Dr. Julianna Deardorff (UC
Berkeley), and co-sponsors, Drs. Alexandra Minnis (UC Berkeley and RTI International) and Jay Silverman
(UC San Diego). As a student at UC Berkeley and a mentee of a senior researcher at UC San Diego, Ms.
Boyce is well supported by faculty and an institution that offer some of the best resources for training in
rigorous epidemiologic and biostatistical methods. Her training plan emphasizes scientific productivity and skill
development in measurement, dyadic analysis, mixed effects hierarchical modeling, and a special focus on
social network analysis. The rich learning environment that will support her as she achieves her proposed
research and training goals will prepare her to successfully transition into an academic post-...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10017059
- **Project number:** 5F31HD100019-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sabrina Christine Boyce
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $42,163
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-28 → 2022-08-27

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10017059

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10017059, Reproductive Coercion and Related Risk Factors (5F31HD100019-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10017059. Licensed CC0.

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