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Table 1 Characteristics of included studies

From: Women empowerment in reproductive health: a systematic review of measurement properties

Author, year

Country

Construct

Items/subscales

Target population in quantitative surveys

Conceptual framework

Measured outcomes

Dimensions of women empowerment

Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha)

Upadhyay et al. 2020 [11]

USA

Sexual and reproductive empowerment

23 items/7 subscales:

– Comfort talking with a partner

– Choice of partners, marriage, and children

– Parental support

– Sexual safety

– Self-love

– Sense of future

– Sexual pleasure

1117 Adolescents and young adults aged 15–24

Kabeer’s framework

– Using the desired contraceptive method

– Access to sexual and reproductive health services

– Access to health information

Individual agency/immediate relational agency

0.80

Upadhyay et al. 2014 [24]

USA

Reproductive Autonomy Scale

14 items/3 subscales

– Freedom from coercion

– Communication

– Decision-making

1892 women aged 15–60

Theory of gender and power developed by Connell

– Current use of modern contraception

– Reaching one’s reproductive desires and intentions

– Unmet need for contraception

Individual agency

0.78 subscales:

0.65–0.82

Hinson et al. 2019 [12]

Nepal

Reproductive Decision-making Agency

12 items

– Agency around when to have children

– Agency around whether to use contraception

– Agency around which method of contraception

935 women aged 15–49

Reproductive empowerment framework, developed by Edmeades et al.

– The time of having children

– Using family planning methods

– Choosing the method of family planning

Individual agency

0.6416

Moreau et al. 2020 [13]

Ethiopia, Uganda, and Nigeria

Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in Sexual and Reproductive health (WGE-SRH)

14 items/3 subscales

– Sexual existence of choice

– Contraceptive existence of choice

– Pregnancy existence of choice

1229 women aged 15–49

– The World Bank’s Empowerment Framework

– The SRH Empowerment

– Volitional sex

– Contraceptive use

– Pregnancy by choice

Individual agency

0.56–0.79

For various subscales

McCauley et al. 2017 [25]

USA

The Reproductive Coercion Scale (RCS)

9 items/2 subscales:

– Pregnancy coercion

– Condom manipulation

4674 women aged 16–29

None

Unwanted pregnancy

Immediate relational agency

Morokoff et al. 1997 [5]

USA

Sexual Assertiveness Scale (SAS)

18 items/3 subscales

– Assertiveness regarding initiation of sex

– Assertiveness regarding the refusal of sex

– Pregnancy/STD prevention

The first sample: 260 and 136

The second sample: 240 and 263, women at reproductive age

General conceptualization of assertiveness based on human rights to autonomy

– Unwanted sex

– Pregnancy/STD prevention

Individual agency

0.82

Santos Iglesias and Carlos Sierra 2010 [32]

Spain

Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness

19-item

– Initiation of sex

– No shyness/refusal of sex

400 men and 453 women (N = 853) 18 to 71 years

None

Sexual desires

Individual agency

0.87

Loshek and Terrell 2014 [26]

USA

The Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire (SAQ)

18 items

– Satisfaction

– Refusal

– Risk-history

725 women aged 18–49

None

– Communication

– Unwanted sexual acts

Individual agency

0.78 to 0.81

For various subscales

Jones 2006 [7]

USA

The Sexual Pressure Scale (SPS)

19 items/5 subscales

– Condom fear

– Sexual coercion

– Women’s sex role

– Men expect sex

– Show trust

306 urban women, aged 18 to 29

Gender stereotypical expectations

Sexual choices

Immediate relational agency

0.81

Jones and Gulick 2009 [8]

USA

Sexual Pressure Scale for Women-Revised (SPSW-R)

18-item/subscales

– Show trust

– Women’s sex role

– Men expect sex

– Sex coercion

325 urban women aged 18–29

Gender stereotypical expectations

Sexual choices

Immediate relational agency

0.86

Pulerwitz et al. 2000 [6]

USA

The Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS)

23-item

– Relationship control

– Decision-making dominance

Women (N = 380

Women 18–45 years old

– The theory of gender

– Power and Social Exchange Theory

HIV/AIDS risk and prevention

Immediate relational agency

0.84 for English version, 0.88 for Spanish version

Pulerwitz et al. 2018 [29]

Kenya

The Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS)

15-item

1101 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15–24

The theory of gender

– Power and Social Exchange Theory

HIV/AIDS risk and prevention

Immediate relational agency

15-item SRPS: 0.81 and 12-item SRPS-M: 0.76

Bhandari et al. 2014 [27]

Nepal

Women’s Autonomy Measurement Scale

23-item

– Decision making autonomy

– Financial autonomy

– Freedom of movement

250 Women at reproductive age

None

Maternal Health care Service Utilization

Individual agency

0.84

Kalysha Closson 2019 [30]

South Africa

Sexual Relationship Power equity

Adaptation of Pulerwitz’s SRPS

8-items for women

235 young men and women aged 16–24

Theory of gender and power developed by Connell

HIV-risk factors

Immediate relational agency

0.63

Asaolu et al. 2018 [31]

19 countries representing/4 African regions

Women’s empowerment

4 items allocate to the subscale of health dimension

– Access to healthcare domain

111,368 women aged 15–49

Kabeer’s framework

Access to healthcare

Structural agency