Polygamy and mental health among Saudi middle schoolers: The role of family cohesion and father involvement

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Nisma Merdad,Salman Elbedour,Jennifer Lau,Edward Barker
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12741

RESEARCH

Polygamy and mental health among Saudi middle

schoolers: The role of family cohesion and father

involvement

Nisma Merdad

1

|Salman Elbedour

2

|Jennifer Lau

1

|Edward Barker

1

1

Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and

Neuroscience, King’s College London,

London, UK

2

Department of Human Development and

Psychoeducational Studies, Howard

University, Washington, DC

Correspondence Nisma Merdad, 16 De

Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AB,

United Kingdom.

Email: nisma.merdad@kcl.ac.uk

Abstract

Objective: This paper assesses the role of family cohesion

in the relationship between polygamy and mental health

and whether this varies as a function of the father’s

involvement.

Background: Studies show that polygamy has a detrimen-

tal effect on children’s mental health, yet familial variables

that may account for this relationship have rarely been

explored. Family cohesion is crucial for the relationship

between a range of familial risk factors and mental health.

Method: Data about family structure, family cohesion,

mental health, father involvement, and other related

sociodemographic variables were collected from students

from randomly selected middle schools (students N=758)

in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Results: Polygamous marital structure predicted more psy-

chosocial problems and higher internalizing symptoms,

but not externalizing problems. Polygamy had an indirect

association with psychosocial problems through family

cohesion, and father involvement moderated the relation-

ship between polygamy and family cohesion.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that living in polygamous

families may impairthe mental health of middle school–

aged children, in partby diminishing family cohesion. Addi-

tionally, low father involvement may exaggerate threats to

family cohesion resulting from polygamy and subsequent

child mental health consequences. However, contrary to

previous research, children’s externalizing behavior did not

vary by polygamous marital structure.

Author note: Jennifer Lau is now at the Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, Queen Mary University, London, UK.

Received: 2 March 2021Revised: 6 June 2022Accepted: 24 June 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12741

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use,

distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

774 Family Relations. 2023;72:774–793.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Implications: Family-focused therapies, which include the

fathers, may be of particular use to support this at-risk

group.

KEYWORDS

adolescents, family cohesion, family structure, father involvement, mental

health

Polygamy is a union in which multiple people share a single spouse. Polygyny, where one man

is married to two or more women, is the most common type of polygamy. Most academic liter-

ature uses the words polygamy and polygyny interchangeably, as will this study (Al-Sharfi

et al., 2016). It is most common in the Islamic world as the Qur’an allows men to have four

wives (Holy Qur’an,2002, 4:3). However, the religion permits the uptake of polygamous mar-

riage on the strict condition of just treatment (Ali, 2012; Jawad, 1991; Khan & Zahoor, 2015).

Men are encouraged to take only one wife if they cannot uphold this command (Holy Qur’an,

2002, 4:4). Polyandry, the marriage of one woman to multiple men, is strictly forbidden (Holy

Qur’an, 2002, 4:3). Limiting the practice of polygamy to polygyny allows for clear paternity of

children (Esposito & DeLong-Bas, 2018; Johnson, 2004). As common as it is in Muslim subcul-

tures, polygamy exists elsewhere too. Available evidence (the practice being hidden in many

countries) documents plural marriage in Ghana, Algeria, Congo, Chad, Thailand, Tanzania,

the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and many more countries (Al-Krenawi, 2016).

According to the 2011 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in 26 out

of 35 countries with data on polygamy, 10% to 53% of women in child bearing age had co-

wives. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 20 countries have polygamy rates of over 10%

(Fenske, 2015; Tertilt, 2005).

In most Arab countries, polygamy is legal and ranges from 2%–9% of marriages (Tabutin

et al., 2005). Saudi Arabia is one the of the few countries in the Middle East to allow polygamy

unconditionally (Kaya & Yamani, 2009). The laws also do not stipulate that the husbands need

to disclose their other marriages to their wives, thus true prevalence rates of this marriage struc-

ture is difficult to obtain in Saudi Arabia (Salhi, 2010). It is not as common in the West. Secret

polygamy, however, is practiced by a small minority of schismatic traditionalist Mormons in

the United States, Canada, and Mexico, although the mainstream Latter-day Saints rejected

the practice in 1890 (White & White, 2005). In addition, polygamy is present in minority groups

in Europe, notably immigrant families from Pakistan and Turkey (Charsley & Liversage, 2013).

Non-monogamous marriages, such as polyamorous and open marriages, are also increasing in

popularity in the West (Balzarini et al., 2019; Moors et al., 2017). The majority of the literature

on polygamy is derived from Bedouin societies or African tribes where polygamy may be more

prevalent and thus less stigmatized (Al-Sharfi et al., 2016). Only one study evaluating general

risk status for mental health outcomes from students in the United Arab Emirates—a country

neighboring Saudi Arabia—found that students in polygamous families were two times more

likely to have mental health problems than their counterparts from monogamous families

(Eapen et al., 1998).

Polygamous families present a complex family dynamic with traits and challenges distinct

from any other family structure. The financial strains, marital conflict and abuse, and the wife’s

diminished mental health found in polygamous families may produce an environment with

chronic parent and family-related stressors that are linked to mental health problems in children

or adolescents living within them (Allen et al., 2018; Giallo et al., 2021; Westrupp et al., 2018).

In some cases, polygamous families may not be able to afford separate residences for each wife

and her children, thus, creating a crowded environment that could be detrimental to healthy

learning and growth (Arthi & Fenske, 2018; Starr & Brilmayer, 2003). However, even when

POLYGAMY AND MENTAL HEALTH775