REVIEW ARTICLE Prevalence of mental health problems in women in polygamous versus monogamous marriages: a systematic review and meta-analysis Parisa Rahmanian 1 & Khadeeja Munawar 2 & Firdaus Mukhtar 3 & Fahad Riaz Choudhry 4 Received: 6 May 2020 /Accepted: 23 September 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract While some studies suggest different mental health outcomes among women in polygamous versus monogamous marriages, no published systematic review or meta-analysis has analyzed the relevant research literature. This article aims to review the evidence of marriage types (i.e., polygamous and monogamous marriages) and differences in the prevalence of mental health issues. Eleven electronic databases, along with further identified references lists, were searched. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. They included 3166 participants, and 986 women were in a polygamous marriage. All studies were rated for quality and were tested for publication bias. Meta-analyses were conducted on the five symptoms to assess for the effect of marriage type. The studies indicate a significant association of marriage type with psychological symptoms. The meta-analysis indicates that women in polygamous marriage had worsened mental health as compared with women in monogamous marriages. The weighted mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were somatization 0.53, 0.44–0.63; obsession-compulsion 0.35, 0.14–0.56; interpersonal sensitivity 0.42, 0.12–0.73; depression 0.41, 0.15–0.67; anxiety 0.41, 0.15–0.68; hostility = 0.47, 0.28– 0.66; phobic anxiety 0.39, 0.17–0.61; paranoid ideation 0.35, 0.24–0.47; psychoticism 0.41, 0.23, 0.59; and Global Severity Index (GSI) 0.43, 0.25–0.60. A higher self-esteem and life satisfaction among women in polygamous marriages and statistically superior family functioning among women in monogamous marriages were also found. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the marital satisfaction of women in polygamous versus monogamous marriages. Results are consistent with the existing research on the prevalence of mental health issues among women in polygamous marriages. Nonetheless, these women were found to have elevated self-esteem and life satisfaction than women in monogamous marriages. Directions for future research are indicated. Keywords Mental health . Polygamy . Monogamy . Women . Systematic review . Meta-analysis Introduction The term polygamy is a Greek word meaning “the practice of multiple marriages” (Al-Krenawi 2014). Polygamy is a type of marriage which involves several people sharing one spouse. According to Al-Krenawi (2016), there are four main forms of polygamy: (1) polygyny is the marriage of one man to many women, (2) polyandry refers to the marriage of one woman to two or more husbands, (3) polygyndry is a situation in which two or more women at the same time married to two or more men, and (4) group marriage (sometimes referred to circle marriage or polygyndry) refers to a situation in which various men and women have sexual access to one another and con- sider themselves married to all other member of the group (Al- Krenawi 2016). However, in the present study, polygyny will be considered. According to research, polygamy exists in 80% Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-020-01070-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Firdaus Mukhtar drfirdaus@upm.edu.my 1 Zahedan Medical School, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 2 Department of Psychology, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia 3 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 4 Department of Psychology, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Archives of Women's Mental Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-020-01070-8