Getting the Full Picture of Family Planning Knowledge in the Philippines: Using Multilevel Modeling to Capture Individual, Partner, and Couple-Level Effects

Multilevel modeling is commonly used to assess the influence of community-level variables on demographic and health outcomes, yet these methods have rarely been applied at the couple-level. We conduct multilevel modeling of data from 238 couples who participated in the 2005 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey in the Philippines to assess the individual-, partner-, and couple-level influences on men’s and women’s family planning knowledge. Preliminary findings indicate that 17% of the total variance in family planning knowledge across participants was between couples. Individual-level (e.g., female gender and higher educational attainment) and couple-level variables (e.g., relationship duration, partnership status, and greater church participation by female partner) were significantly associated with greater knowledge of family planning methods, as compared to other couples. Subsequent analyses will assess additional individual and couple-level covariates and cross-level interactions. Preliminary results indicate that knowledge of family planning methods are influenced by individual, partner, and relationship characteristics.