Psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Polygamy may create a complex family system involving the husband’s relationship and relations between subsequent wives and children [1]. Polygamous families have distinct household problems, usually stemming from jealousy between co-wives over the husband’s affections and resources [2]. In addition to studies documenting polygamy’s detrimental effects on wives’ health, researchers have identified polygamy as a risk factor for adverse child health outcomes [3].

Polygamy is defined as “a marital relationship involving multiple spouses” [4]. There are three types of polygamy: polygyny refers to “one husband [who] is married to two or more wives,” polyandry refers to “one wife married to two or more husbands,” and polygynandry refers to “a group marriage scenario in which two or more wives are simultaneously married to two or more husbands” [4]. Only 2% of the global population practices polygamy. Polygamy is most often found in West and Central Africa, which the highest was in Burkina Faso (36%) with widespread among people who practice folk religions (45%), Muslims (40%), and Christians (24%) [5].

A recent systematic review had confirmed that children from polygamous marriages experienced physical and emotional abuse associated with parental neglect and abuse [6]. A qualitative study on female children and young adults found that polygamous marriage formed an emotional abuse to the daughters since they have witnessed the mother’s severe pain of second marriage and ascribe the mother’s pain to it [7]. These abuses may be associated with more mental health problems, social problems, and lower academic achievement in children from polygamous marriages compared to monogamous marriages [8].

In a qualitative study of American Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds, women in polygamous relationships have reported being abused by their husbands or other wives [3]. The prevalence of emotional distress (86.8%), fearful feeling (17%), low self-esteem (58.4%), and loneliness (64.1%) have also been found higher among women in polygamous relationships compared to monogamous marriages with the prevalence of 17.9, 7.7, 7.7, and 12.8%, respectively in Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev region in Israel [9] In polygamous marriages, where the mother is the first wife, the environment at home is stressful, parental investment is low, and resources are diluted; however, studies on polygamy and associated fertility issues have been mixed [10].

Polygamous women are genuinely at risk of experiencing psychological and emotional distress. For example, one study found that women in polygamous marriages are at a higher risk of low self-esteem and depression than women in monogamous relationships and enjoy less marital satisfaction and more problematic mother-child relationships [11]. There were significant differences between women in polygamous and monogamous marriages. There was a higher prevalence of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, general symptom severity, positive symptoms total, and psychiatric disorder, as well as lower ratings of life and marital satisfaction, family functioning, and self-esteem among polygamous wives [12]. A recent study also demonstrated similar findings but showed no significant difference in women’s marital satisfaction between polygamous and monogamous marriages [13].

On the bright side, polygamy also demonstrated positive impacts. Childless wives are willing to have legal and valid polygamous marriages than the other wives to obtain offspring and descendants for the husband. Besides that, warmth and affection for polygamous families may provide positive role models for children’s mental health and self-esteem [14].

Determining the impact of polygamous marriage on women and children worldwide can provide a better assessment than discrete primary studies. Identifying this impact can help give a clear understanding and serve as the basis for the development of appropriate strategies that address primary prevention to counter the potential negative impact affecting women and children. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to ascertain the psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children worldwide. We have included both women and children because the impact of polygamous marriage might affect both groups. This review summarizes the available evidence, effect estimates, and strength of the statistical associations between polygamous and monogamous marriages and the psychological impact on women, and children.

The review was conducted to determine the psychological impact of polygamous marriage among women and children. The pooled prevalence of polygamous marriage in women from 17 studies was 41% (95% CI: 32, 50). Among women, depression was found to be significantly different between polygamous and monogamous marriages. Women and children in polygamous marriages have higher scores in somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, hostility, phobia, paranoia, psychoticism, and GSI compared to monogamous marriages.

Various research reported that first wives in polygamous marriages would have a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and negative attitude [25, 38, 50, 51]. These researches reported similar findings as this current meta-analysis, where women in polygamous marriages have two times higher risk of developing depression compared to monogamous marriages. Al-Sherbiny [41] reported the “first wife syndrome,” where the first wife reported difficulties faced psychological, physical, and social problems among women in a polygamous marriage. This syndrome goes through a course of reaction where the initial response from the first wife after being informed of her husband’s remarriage is in the form of a nervous breakdown, emotional upset, or outburst of anger. Negative attitudes towards the husband and hostility towards the new wife always exist. After a lapse of time and gradual adaptation, these women reported that negative physical, psychological and social attitudes would decrease [33].

Al Krenawi [25] also reported that the transition from sole wife to senior wife is traumatic, leading to the senior wife having a loss of self-esteem. The Bedouin-Arabs of Negev showed that 58.4% of the polygamous wives had low self-esteem. This circumstance encouraged them to withdraw from their social networks, contributing to feeling lonely (64.1%) among these polygamous wives.

Women in polygamous marriages scored significantly higher in all psychological dimensions in the SCL-90: somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic, paranoia, psychoticism, and GSI, and these findings were similar to a review [13]. Al- Issa [52] indicated that somatization might be more prevalent in the non-western world than in the west. This may be due to the ethnicity of Arabs, where exhibiting somatization behaviour is one of the major ways to express emotional distress [4, 23, 52]. In this culture, the first wife is usually not consulted when her husband s to remarry, leading to fewer familial, social, and economic resources where it can be distressing [53]. This would lead to first wives in polygamous marriages having more anxiety, psychoticism, paranoia, and feeling of powerlessness than the second and third wives [22]. Apart from that, this meta-analysis also reports that family functioning scores have been worse in women with polygamous marriages than monogamous marriages. It may be due to the husband’s attention being divided between two families; thus, economic resources became more diluted. One study reported that family functioning and financial status depend on one another, strongly associated with mental disorders [54]. A worsened family’s economic situation could lead to poorer family functioning [32].

Children with polygamous parents experienced more psychological impact compared to monogamous parents; however, these findings were limited to only two studies. A review based on five papers concluded that children from polygamous families had higher levels of psychological impacts than those from monogamous families [8]. Elbedour [10] suggested that polygamy effects on children are more noticeable and disappear as they grow older. Children in polygamy marriages will have lower academic achievement [6, 24, 25]. Still, children’s academic achievement may be less affected due to a better understanding of stressful events and more successful managing emotions [48]. Children from kindergarten through Grade 6 reported a lower level of education achievement based on the examination results. They had difficulty adjusting to their schools, thus indicating that these social problems were impacted by their parents’ polygamous marriage that has affected their formal education system [45]. The children of these marriages will have a huge disadvantage in their education and increase school dropouts.

The SCL-90 instrument performed on the children in polygamous marriages showed higher psychological impact scores in all nine domains [44, 46]. However, there may be an additional cultural impact on some of the domains. Research revealed that Arab children exhibit higher levels of depression compared to the control samples in the United States [55]. It also implied interpersonal sensitivity, where its risk increased in conjunction with the presence of depression [56]. Despite having parents with polygamous or monogamous marriages, family functioning plays a much more prominent role in children’s self-esteem, peer relation, and mental health [44, 46]. Findings indicated the impact of polygamy itself, but a well-functioning family will not impair children’s social adjustment and mental health [57]. Economic status also plays a significant role in family functioning and children’s mental health [46, 58]. Unfortunately, the children perceived that their parents’ polygamous marriages had made their families’ economic and family functioning worse [44, 46]. This plays a major role in dealing with children’s emotional and financial pressure.

This meta-analysis has a few limitations. Most studies have a very different range of tests and scales that hinder making a reasonable conclusion. The random-effects model assumes the presence of heterogeneity in which each study has its study-specific effect. However, subgroup analysis to explore the differences to understand the observed effect was not possible due to limited studies. This study is limited by only including studies published in the English language. Most studies were conducted in the Middle East, specifically Arab societies, limiting the results and comparisons. We could not deduce whether the impact is solely due to polygamous marriages or the culture of societies. All the included studies were of cross-sectional design. Due to its nature, temporal causation cannot be established.

The psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children was relatively higher than monogamous marriage. This study also concluded that polygamous marriage plays a major role in the development of children not only mentally but also socially. Family functioning also has a major role in determining the outcome of polygamous impact on the population. Awareness of the proper practices for polygamy should be strengthened so that its adverse effects can be minimized. The agencies involved in polygamous practices should broaden and enhance their understanding of the correct practice of polygamy. It is also necessary for healthcare professionals to have a better evaluation for women and children in this family practice to provide them with a better quality of life. Polygamy should be recognized as a particular risk factor for developing social problems in children; thus, with proper education to the families, more attention to the children’s emotional and social needs is required to avoid this situation. Future studies on polygamous marriage should emphasize more on children with broader sampling across various cultures. These studies should also use standardized measuring tools to ensure a better conclusion.