Rebecka Lundgren
Biographic Data
| ID | 2056790 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rebecka Lundgren |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rebecka |
| FAMILY NAME | Lundgren |
| SIGNATURE | LUNDGREN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California San Diego |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9607-5722 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 34 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
From blame to belonging
Infertility-related stigma remains a significant yet often overlooked issue in sexual and reproductive health programming, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Although awareness of infertility's prevalence and social, psychological, and health impacts is growing, efforts to address the associated stigma remain insufficient. Drawing on a synthesis of existing evidence, this commentary examines the multi-level nature of infertility-related stigma, …
Faith actors and social norms shifting for adolescent health
Across low-and-middle income countries, adolescents navigate social environments where norms shape their opportunities and life trajectories. Faith actors are deeply embedded within these systems and often influence expectations related to communication, sexuality, reproductive health, and marriage. While faith engagement is widely recognized as important for sustainable change, empirical evidence on how faith actors contribute to social norm cha…
Drawing on diverse partnerships to identify, address, and measure context-specific gender norms
Intervention approaches that address social norms, both through strengthening positive norms and weakening harmful norms, hold promise in addressing some of the most intractable domains of gender and social inequity, such as gender-based violence and unpaid or devalued caregiving. While the international community increasingly recognizes the importance of norms, culturally and contextually informed normative constructs and measures remain largely…
Norms shifting and behavior change in uncertain times
This commentary reflects on the current state of evidence on social norms interventions focused on improving health and economic outcomes for adolescent girls and young women in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on a newly published global evidence review, it highlights how the field has evolved from narrow, individual-level strategies toward community-centered approaches. While conceptual clarity and implementation tools have improved, s…
Association of fertility-related attitudes and norms among adolescent wives, husbands, and mothers-in-law with wives’ fertility desires in rural Niger
Niger has the world's highest fertility rate, with about seven children per woman, significantly impacting maternal and child health. This study examines how fertility-related attitudes and social norms affect adolescent wives' (AWs) fertility desires in rural Niger. Using data from 768 AWs (ages 15-19), their husbands, and mothers-in-law, the study employed multilevel linear regression models to analyse associations between birth spacing attitud…
Building a theory of change to guide fatherhood programming to prevent family violence
Fatherhood programs have increasingly been recognized as a promising approach to prevent violence against women and children (VAWC), yet there remains limited synthesis across programs to clarify the core components that drive change. Most existing studies focus on individual program evaluations. Identifying shared principles or pathways can inform broader implementation and scale. To address this gap, this analysis identified program elements th…
Shifting the paradigm
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been at the forefront of feminist struggles for equality; however, movements to prevent VAWG have been depoliticised, particularly by Western voices, with processes rooted in colonialism and patriarchy. Despite a growing movement to decolonise violence prevention and centre voices and experiences of the Global South, many continue to navigate power-imbalanced partnerships. To dismantle power imbalances …
Reimagining circularity
Transitioning towards a circular economy, where the existing building stock is more efficiently used, would significantly reduce material and energy use, emissions, and waste from the built environment sector. This study focuses on exploring what conditions are needed for circularity by imagining preferable circular futures for a 2035 timeframe and understanding the required actions to achieve them. Futures studies methods are used to focus on pr…
It isn't because they don't love their children”
This study investigates the influence of social norms on male caregiving in Uganda and considers the implications for tailoring and scaling the REAL Fathers mentoring program across six regions. By identifying key norms and reference groups, the findings inform strategies to enhance father engagement in early childhood development within culturally and socially relevant frameworks. This study employed an exploratory Participatory Learning and Act…
Capturing the Dynamic Nature of Choice
Although empowerment‐focused reproductive health measures have expanded in recent years, gaps exist in measuring person‐centered contraceptive desire and demand. We address this gap by examining the degree to which individuals feel that contraception is acceptable. This study explores women's and men's experiences of contraceptive acceptability and tests the applicability of the “5C” framework of vaccine hesitancy to contraceptive demand and beha…
Addressing social norms for adolescent timing and spacing of pregnancy in low and middle-income countries
Background: Social norms shape adolescent sexual and reproductive health behaviours contributing to contraceptive and pregnancy outcomes. No global research agendas exist to guide research on adolescent social norms shifting in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We developed a social norms research agenda to improve adolescent healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy in LMICs. Methods: We adapted and applied the Child Health and Nutrition R…
What’s driving girls’ adolescent marriage decline in Rakai, Uganda? The interplay between adolescent pregnancies and social determinants, 1999 – 2018
Few studies have sought to untangle the influence of social determinants and pregnancy on adolescent marriage declines. Using longitudinal data from 15- to 17-year-old girls in the Rakai Community Cohort Survey, we assessed how education, socio-economic status, orphanhood and pregnancy contributed to trends in adolescent marriage. We examined descriptive trends and logistic regressions of the associations between social determinants and adolescen…
The Emerge framework to measure empowerment for health and development
The EMERGE Framework can guide development and analysis of survey measures on empowerment and is needed as the current state of the field shows limited coverage of empowerment constructs even in areas which have received more study, such as family planning
Social lifecycle assessment of adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse of existing buildings and shared spaces has been highlighted as a key circular economy concept in the built environment, with the former also having been found to increase social sustainability through the preservation of cultural heritage. However, circular economy research has focused on the economic and environmental dimensions, with the social dimension receiving less attention. The aim of this study is, therefore, to establish…
Validation of the Fertility Norms Scale and Association with Fertility Intention and Contraceptive Use in India
Social norms related to fertility may be driving pregnancy desire, timing and contraceptive use, but measurement has lagged. We validated a 10‐item injunctive Fertility Norms Scale (FNS) and examined its associations with family planning outcomes among 1021 women and 1020 men in India. FNS captured expectations around pronatalism, childbearing early in marriage and community pressure. We assessed reliability and construct validity through Cronbac…
Measuring the impacts of maternal child marriage and maternal intimate partner violence and the moderating effects of proximity to conflict on stunting among children under 5 in post-conflict Sri Lank…
This study aimed to understand whether maternal child marriage and past year intimate partner violence (IPV) impact stunting among Sri Lankan children under 5 years old, and, secondarily, whether proximity to conflict is associated with stunting. Additionally, we assessed whether proximity to conflict moderates the relationships between maternal child marriage and past year IPV (sexual, physical, and emotional). We tested these questions using lo…
A mediation analysis of the role of girl child marriage in the relationship between proximity to conflict and past-year intimate partner violence in post-conflict Sri Lanka
Our findings demonstrate that residing in districts central to conflict compared to those distal to conflict is associated with greater odds of IPV and girl child marriage in post-conflict Sri Lanka, with girl child marriage partially mediating the association between centrality to conflict and IPV. Residence in districts proximal to conflict appears protective against IPV. Future research should investigate what factors are responsible for decre…
The power of women’s and men’s Social Networks to catalyse normative and behavioural change
An easy-to-implement, short-duration, gender-equitable social network intervention with a limited set of network actors, TJ effectively decreases social and normative barriers preventing women and men from seeking and using FP services. Results support the broader use of innovative social and behaviour change strategies that diffuse family planning ideas through social networks, diminish normative and communication barriers, and catalyse modern f…
Associations between Contraceptive Decision‐Making and Marital Contraceptive Communication and use in Rural Maharashtra, India
Women's contraceptive decision‐making control is crucial for reproductive autonomy, but research largely relies on the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) measure which asks who is involved with decision‐making. In India, this typically assesses joint decision‐making or male engagement. Newer measures emphasize female agency. We examined three measures of contraceptive decision‐making, the DHS and two agency‐focused measures, to assess their asso…
Pathways to Modern Family Planning
Despite improvements in family planning (FP) knowledge and services in West Africa, unmet need for FP continues to grow. Many programs apply a demographically and biologically driven definition of unmet need, overlooking the complex social environment in which fertility and FP decisions are made. This longitudinal, qualitative cohort study captures the changing nature of FP need, attitudes and behaviors, taking into account life context to inform…
Processing gender
The years between 10-19 represent a critical stage of human development during which boys and girls learn and embody socially constructed gender norms, with long-term implications for their sexual and reproductive health. This ethnographic cohort study sought to understand how gendered norms and practices develop during the transition from child to young adult in post-conflict northern Uganda. A total of 60 girls and boys aged 10-19 were selected…
Moving from theory to practice
In West Africa, social factors influence whether couples with unmet need for family planning act on birth-spacing desires. Tékponon Jikuagou is testing a social network-based intervention to reduce social barriers by diffusing new ideas. Individuals and groups judged socially influential by their communities provide entrée to networks. A participatory social network mapping methodology was designed to identify these diffusion actors. Analysis of …
Addressing Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Among Adolescents
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) are widespread among adolescents and place them on a lifelong trajectory of violence, either as victims or perpetrators. The aim of this review was to identify effective approaches to prevent adolescent IPV and SV and to identify critical knowledge gaps. The interventions reviewed in this article reflect the global focus on interventions addressing violence perpetrated by men against women …
Investing in very young adolescents' sexual and reproductive health
Very young adolescents (VYAs) between the ages of 10 and 14 represent about half of the 1.2 billion adolescents aged 10-19 in the world today. In lower- and middle-income countries, where most unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths and sexually transmitted infections occur, investment in positive youth development to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is increasing. Most interventions, though, focus on older adolescents…
Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal
(2013). Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal. Gender & Development: Vol. 21, Working with men on gender equality, pp. 127-145
The Emerge framework to measure empowerment for health and development
The EMERGE Framework can guide development and analysis of survey measures on empowerment and is needed as the current state of the field shows limited coverage of empowerment constructs even in areas which have received more study, such as family planning
Cultivating Men's Interest in Family Planning in Rural El Salvador
A pilot project in rural El Salvador tested the integration of family planning into a water and sanitation program as a strategy for increasing male involvement in family planning decisionmaking and use. The organizations involved posited that integrating family planning into a resource management and community development project would facilitate male involvement by diffusing information, by referring men and women to services, and by expanding …
There is no sea, only fish
Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal
(2013). Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal. Gender & Development: Vol. 21, Working with men on gender equality, pp. 127-145
Associations between Contraceptive Decision‐Making and Marital Contraceptive Communication and use in Rural Maharashtra, India
Women's contraceptive decision‐making control is crucial for reproductive autonomy, but research largely relies on the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) measure which asks who is involved with decision‐making. In India, this typically assesses joint decision‐making or male engagement. Newer measures emphasize female agency. We examined three measures of contraceptive decision‐making, the DHS and two agency‐focused measures, to assess their asso…
Validation of the Fertility Norms Scale and Association with Fertility Intention and Contraceptive Use in India
Social norms related to fertility may be driving pregnancy desire, timing and contraceptive use, but measurement has lagged. We validated a 10‐item injunctive Fertility Norms Scale (FNS) and examined its associations with family planning outcomes among 1021 women and 1020 men in India. FNS captured expectations around pronatalism, childbearing early in marriage and community pressure. We assessed reliability and construct validity through Cronbac…
There is no sea, only fish
Cultivating Men's Interest in Family Planning in Rural El Salvador
A pilot project in rural El Salvador tested the integration of family planning into a water and sanitation program as a strategy for increasing male involvement in family planning decisionmaking and use. The organizations involved posited that integrating family planning into a resource management and community development project would facilitate male involvement by diffusing information, by referring men and women to services, and by expanding …
Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal
(2013). Whose turn to do the dishes? Transforming gender attitudes and behaviours among very young adolescents in Nepal. Gender & Development: Vol. 21, Working with men on gender equality, pp. 127-145
Investing in very young adolescents' sexual and reproductive health
Very young adolescents (VYAs) between the ages of 10 and 14 represent about half of the 1.2 billion adolescents aged 10-19 in the world today. In lower- and middle-income countries, where most unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths and sexually transmitted infections occur, investment in positive youth development to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is increasing. Most interventions, though, focus on older adolescents…
Addressing Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Among Adolescents
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) are widespread among adolescents and place them on a lifelong trajectory of violence, either as victims or perpetrators. The aim of this review was to identify effective approaches to prevent adolescent IPV and SV and to identify critical knowledge gaps. The interventions reviewed in this article reflect the global focus on interventions addressing violence perpetrated by men against women …
Moving from theory to practice
In West Africa, social factors influence whether couples with unmet need for family planning act on birth-spacing desires. Tékponon Jikuagou is testing a social network-based intervention to reduce social barriers by diffusing new ideas. Individuals and groups judged socially influential by their communities provide entrée to networks. A participatory social network mapping methodology was designed to identify these diffusion actors. Analysis of …
Processing gender
The years between 10-19 represent a critical stage of human development during which boys and girls learn and embody socially constructed gender norms, with long-term implications for their sexual and reproductive health. This ethnographic cohort study sought to understand how gendered norms and practices develop during the transition from child to young adult in post-conflict northern Uganda. A total of 60 girls and boys aged 10-19 were selected…
Pathways to Modern Family Planning
Despite improvements in family planning (FP) knowledge and services in West Africa, unmet need for FP continues to grow. Many programs apply a demographically and biologically driven definition of unmet need, overlooking the complex social environment in which fertility and FP decisions are made. This longitudinal, qualitative cohort study captures the changing nature of FP need, attitudes and behaviors, taking into account life context to inform…
Measuring the impacts of maternal child marriage and maternal intimate partner violence and the moderating effects of proximity to conflict on stunting among children under 5 in post-conflict Sri Lank…
This study aimed to understand whether maternal child marriage and past year intimate partner violence (IPV) impact stunting among Sri Lankan children under 5 years old, and, secondarily, whether proximity to conflict is associated with stunting. Additionally, we assessed whether proximity to conflict moderates the relationships between maternal child marriage and past year IPV (sexual, physical, and emotional). We tested these questions using lo…
A mediation analysis of the role of girl child marriage in the relationship between proximity to conflict and past-year intimate partner violence in post-conflict Sri Lanka
Our findings demonstrate that residing in districts central to conflict compared to those distal to conflict is associated with greater odds of IPV and girl child marriage in post-conflict Sri Lanka, with girl child marriage partially mediating the association between centrality to conflict and IPV. Residence in districts proximal to conflict appears protective against IPV. Future research should investigate what factors are responsible for decre…
The power of women’s and men’s Social Networks to catalyse normative and behavioural change
An easy-to-implement, short-duration, gender-equitable social network intervention with a limited set of network actors, TJ effectively decreases social and normative barriers preventing women and men from seeking and using FP services. Results support the broader use of innovative social and behaviour change strategies that diffuse family planning ideas through social networks, diminish normative and communication barriers, and catalyse modern f…
Associations between Contraceptive Decision‐Making and Marital Contraceptive Communication and use in Rural Maharashtra, India
Women's contraceptive decision‐making control is crucial for reproductive autonomy, but research largely relies on the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) measure which asks who is involved with decision‐making. In India, this typically assesses joint decision‐making or male engagement. Newer measures emphasize female agency. We examined three measures of contraceptive decision‐making, the DHS and two agency‐focused measures, to assess their asso…
Social lifecycle assessment of adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse of existing buildings and shared spaces has been highlighted as a key circular economy concept in the built environment, with the former also having been found to increase social sustainability through the preservation of cultural heritage. However, circular economy research has focused on the economic and environmental dimensions, with the social dimension receiving less attention. The aim of this study is, therefore, to establish…
Validation of the Fertility Norms Scale and Association with Fertility Intention and Contraceptive Use in India
Social norms related to fertility may be driving pregnancy desire, timing and contraceptive use, but measurement has lagged. We validated a 10‐item injunctive Fertility Norms Scale (FNS) and examined its associations with family planning outcomes among 1021 women and 1020 men in India. FNS captured expectations around pronatalism, childbearing early in marriage and community pressure. We assessed reliability and construct validity through Cronbac…
Addressing social norms for adolescent timing and spacing of pregnancy in low and middle-income countries
Background: Social norms shape adolescent sexual and reproductive health behaviours contributing to contraceptive and pregnancy outcomes. No global research agendas exist to guide research on adolescent social norms shifting in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We developed a social norms research agenda to improve adolescent healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy in LMICs. Methods: We adapted and applied the Child Health and Nutrition R…
What’s driving girls’ adolescent marriage decline in Rakai, Uganda? The interplay between adolescent pregnancies and social determinants, 1999 – 2018
Few studies have sought to untangle the influence of social determinants and pregnancy on adolescent marriage declines. Using longitudinal data from 15- to 17-year-old girls in the Rakai Community Cohort Survey, we assessed how education, socio-economic status, orphanhood and pregnancy contributed to trends in adolescent marriage. We examined descriptive trends and logistic regressions of the associations between social determinants and adolescen…
The Emerge framework to measure empowerment for health and development
The EMERGE Framework can guide development and analysis of survey measures on empowerment and is needed as the current state of the field shows limited coverage of empowerment constructs even in areas which have received more study, such as family planning
Association of fertility-related attitudes and norms among adolescent wives, husbands, and mothers-in-law with wives’ fertility desires in rural Niger
Niger has the world's highest fertility rate, with about seven children per woman, significantly impacting maternal and child health. This study examines how fertility-related attitudes and social norms affect adolescent wives' (AWs) fertility desires in rural Niger. Using data from 768 AWs (ages 15-19), their husbands, and mothers-in-law, the study employed multilevel linear regression models to analyse associations between birth spacing attitud…
Building a theory of change to guide fatherhood programming to prevent family violence
Fatherhood programs have increasingly been recognized as a promising approach to prevent violence against women and children (VAWC), yet there remains limited synthesis across programs to clarify the core components that drive change. Most existing studies focus on individual program evaluations. Identifying shared principles or pathways can inform broader implementation and scale. To address this gap, this analysis identified program elements th…
Shifting the paradigm
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been at the forefront of feminist struggles for equality; however, movements to prevent VAWG have been depoliticised, particularly by Western voices, with processes rooted in colonialism and patriarchy. Despite a growing movement to decolonise violence prevention and centre voices and experiences of the Global South, many continue to navigate power-imbalanced partnerships. To dismantle power imbalances …
Reimagining circularity
Transitioning towards a circular economy, where the existing building stock is more efficiently used, would significantly reduce material and energy use, emissions, and waste from the built environment sector. This study focuses on exploring what conditions are needed for circularity by imagining preferable circular futures for a 2035 timeframe and understanding the required actions to achieve them. Futures studies methods are used to focus on pr…
It isn't because they don't love their children”
This study investigates the influence of social norms on male caregiving in Uganda and considers the implications for tailoring and scaling the REAL Fathers mentoring program across six regions. By identifying key norms and reference groups, the findings inform strategies to enhance father engagement in early childhood development within culturally and socially relevant frameworks. This study employed an exploratory Participatory Learning and Act…
Capturing the Dynamic Nature of Choice
Although empowerment‐focused reproductive health measures have expanded in recent years, gaps exist in measuring person‐centered contraceptive desire and demand. We address this gap by examining the degree to which individuals feel that contraception is acceptable. This study explores women's and men's experiences of contraceptive acceptability and tests the applicability of the “5C” framework of vaccine hesitancy to contraceptive demand and beha…
From blame to belonging
Infertility-related stigma remains a significant yet often overlooked issue in sexual and reproductive health programming, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Although awareness of infertility's prevalence and social, psychological, and health impacts is growing, efforts to address the associated stigma remain insufficient. Drawing on a synthesis of existing evidence, this commentary examines the multi-level nature of infertility-related stigma, …
Faith actors and social norms shifting for adolescent health
Across low-and-middle income countries, adolescents navigate social environments where norms shape their opportunities and life trajectories. Faith actors are deeply embedded within these systems and often influence expectations related to communication, sexuality, reproductive health, and marriage. While faith engagement is widely recognized as important for sustainable change, empirical evidence on how faith actors contribute to social norm cha…
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (15 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (14 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Population (13 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Environmental health (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Demography (9 works) · Demography (8 works)