Table 3 Stigmatising attitudes, beliefs and actions among secondary students in Kenya (n = 633) as compared to the heterogeneous sample from Ghana and Zambia (n = 531)
From: Stigma related to contraceptive use and abortion in Kenya: scale development and validation
Scale items ASABA scale (SABA scale) | Kenya (n = 613) Subscale and item score Mean (SD) | Ghana and Zambiaa (n = 531) Subscale score Mean (SD) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Stigmatising attitudes, 8 items (min-max = 8–40) | 28.03 (5.76) | 25.7 (7.48) | |
 1 | A girl who has an induced abortion is committing a sin. | 4.49 (1.06) | |
(A woman who has an abortion is committing a sin.) | |||
 2 | Once a girl has one abortion, she will make it a habit. | 3.38 (1.31) | |
(Once a woman has one abortion, she will make it a habit.) | |||
 3 | A girl who has an abortion cannot be trusted. | 3.05 (1.42) | |
(A woman who has had an abortion cannot be trusted.) | |||
 4 | A girl who has an abortion brings shame to her family. | 3.92 (1.23) | |
(A woman who has had an abortion brings shame to her family.) | |||
 5 | The health of a girl who has an abortion is never as good as it was before the abortion. | 3.78 (1.36) | |
(The health of a woman who has had an abortion is never as good as it was before the abortion.) | |||
 6 | A girl who has had an abortion might be a bad influence on other women. | 3.29 (1.41) | |
(A woman who has had an abortion might encourage other women to get abortions.) | |||
 7 | A girl who has an abortion will be a bad mother. | 2.62 (1.36) | |
(A woman who has an abortion is a bad mother.) | |||
 8 | A girl who has an abortion brings shame to her community. | 3.46 (1.36) | |
(A woman who has an abortion brings shame to her community.) | |||
Exclusion and discrimination, 8 items (min-max = 8–40) | 14.31 (4.66) | 15.72 (5.79) | |
 9 | A girl who has had an abortion should be prohibited from going to religious services. (A woman who has had an abortion should be prohibited from going to religious services.) | 1.54 (0.88) | |
 10 | A girl who has had an abortion should be teased so that she will be ashamed about her decision. | 2.14 (1.29) | |
(I would tease a woman who has had an abortion so that she will be ashamed about her decision.) | |||
 11 | A girl should be disgraced in my community if she has had an abortion. | 2.09 (1.17) | |
(I would try to disgrace a woman in my community if I found out she had an abortion.) | |||
 12 | A man should not marry a woman who has had an abortion. | 2.06 (1.16) | |
(A man should not marry a woman who has had an abortion because she may not be able to bear children.) | |||
 13 | A girl who has had an abortion should no longer be associated with me. | 1.90 (1.12) | |
(I would stop being friends with someone if I found out that she had an abortion.) | |||
 14 | A girl who had an abortion should be pointed fingers at so that other people would know what she has done. | 1.81 (1.12) | |
(I would point my fingers at a woman who had an abortion so that other people would know what she has done.) | |||
 15 | A girl who has an abortion should not be treated the same as everyone else. | 1.75 (1.04) | |
(A woman who has an abortion should not be treated the same as everyone else.) | |||
Fear of contagion, 3 items (min-max = 3–15) | 5.86 (2.19) | 7.54 (3.41) | |
 16 | A girl who has had an abortion can make other people fall ill or get sick. | 1.68 (1.04) | |
(A woman who has an abortion can make other people fall ill or get sick.) | |||
 17 | A girl who has had an abortion should be isolated from other people in the community for at least 4 weeks after having an abortion. | 2.20 (1.12) | |
(A woman who has an abortion should be isolated from other people in the community for at least 1Â month after having an abortion.) | |||
 18 | If a boy has sex with a girl who has had an abortion, he will most likely become infected with a disease. | 1.96 (1.11) | |
(If a man has sex with a woman who has had an abortion, he will become infected with a disease.) | |||
Total scores (min-max = 18–85) | 47.19 (9.27) | 48.9 (14.2) | |