The Context and Consequences of Early Marriage of 13-16 Years Old Girls in Ardakan

Marriage plays a critical role in human life, so most countries set a minimum age for marriage which marring before it is not allowed. The aim of this study is to see the settings and aftermath of early marriage among 13-16 years old girls in Ardakan, Yazd. Through the qualitative research method of grounded theory, fifteen married girls between ages 13 to 16 were interviewed and the data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data was analyzed by the theoretical coding method. As a result, 54 concepts and 15 subcategories and 4 main categories extracted from the data. There are three main categories related to early marriage; the personal factors include meeting needs, poor life skills, escaping from parental family. The parental factors include parental authority, parental concerns, parents’ cultural-religious beliefs, and family problems; and the third main category involves traditional beliefs and concerns. The consequences of early marriage were categorized in one main category and six subcategories including pregnancy and delivery complications, poor cohabiting skills, physical and emotional violence, lack of power at home, feeling life dissatisfaction, and lack of social development. marriage of girls under 18 seems to be an emotional, compensatory and impulsive immature response.