Quantitative Measure of Self-Perceived Gender Relations in Young Women in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

Background: the conceptualization and measurement of gender-based relations and equity are still challenging to researchers worldwide. given a growing number of health studies which want to take into account the roles of gender relations, there is a need for quantitative measures of this determinant. objectives: based on the theory of gender and power and results from our previous qualitative work, this analysis aims to examine the applicability, reliability, and validity of a set of self-perceived gender-relation measures in the mekong delta of vietnam. methods: data came from a cross-sectional survey of 1181 undergraduate female students from two universities. second-order latent variable modeling was used to examine applicability of theoretical structures and validity of measuring items. single-factor modeling was employed to screen for the most relevant dimensions of self-perceived gender relations. results: the second-order modelingshowedgoodfit, suggesting that the theory well explained self-perceptions of gender relations. the consistency of models across 500 hypothetical bootstrapping samples further substantiated factorial validity of measures. studentswhoeverhadaboyfriend held slightly different perceptions of gender relations compared to thosewhoneverhad aboyfriend. conclusions: the final parsimonious set of measures which had best loadings onto perceived subordination consisted of ten dimensions; this provides a practical application to measure self-perceived gender relations in other health research.