Mental health and polygamy: The Syrian case

Table 1 Socio demographic characteristics of the sample (mean ± SD)

	Polygamous (n = 64)	Monogamous (n = 72)	Statistical t test value
Age (yr)	41.67 ± 9.22	29.81 ± 8.02	8.03b
Age of marriage	20.92 ± 4.30	18.18 ± 2.22	4.75b
Husband’s age	48.98 ± 11.18	25.19 ± 7.14	8.67
Husband’s age of marriage	29.34 ± 7.78	24.39 ± 3.80	4.80b
Education	10.02 ± 4.21	9.24 ± 3.08	1.22
Husband’s education	10.52 ± 4.90	8.53 ± 4.71	2.39a
No. of children	6.61 ± 2.67	4.68 ± 2.02	4.77b
Satisfaction with economic state			χ2 = 9.09a
Highly satisfied or satisfied	39.10%	54.20%
Moderately satisfied	46.90%	4.40%
Unsatisfied or highly unsatisfied	14.00%	1.40%
Kind of blood relations with husband			χ2 = 10.60a
None	31.30%	50.00%
Father’s side	23.40%	27.80%
Mother’s side	10.90%	4.20%
Both sides	18.80%	11.10%
Distant	15.60%	6.90%
Wife’s order
First	62.50%
Second	34.30%
Third	3.20%
Agreement with polygamous marriages			χ2 = 6.10
Don’t agree	76.60%	87.50%
Agree under certain circumstances	18.80%	12.50%
Agree	4.60%	0.00%

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 between monogamous and polygamous.