Influence of cultural context on young women contraceptive empowerment dynamics in Burkina Faso: Findings from longitudinal data

Background Most research exploring the factors influencing women's decision-making power has focused on individual characteristics, particularly education, employment, or, more broadly, women's socioeconomic status. However, some contradictory findings suggest that individual characteristics alone are insufficient to fully explain disparities in women's empowerment. Methods This study leverages longitudinal data from the national Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) survey to examine the dynamics of contraceptive agency among young women in Burkina Faso. Specifically, it analyzes the influence of contextual factors, particularly gender and fertility-related norms, on contraceptive agency. Contraceptive agency comprises two key dimensions: motivation—the ability to define reproductive goals—and self-efficacy—the capacity to act upon and achieve those goals. Results The explanatory models used in this study revealed a limited direct influence of community norms and perceptions, while individual attitudes played a predominant role in shaping contraceptive agency dynamics. An exception was observed: changes in the contraceptive motivation subdimension were influenced by norms related to fertility perceptions. Conclusion Programs and initiatives aimed at strengthening young women’s reproductive autonomy in Burkina Faso should implement strategies that simultaneously address norm shifts—particularly those that promote high fertility—while also fostering positive reproductive health attitudes, especially among unmarried young women.