Independent variables

The independent variables were YWSHG group membership and the duration of the membership. The duration of YWSHG membership was categorized into 1–5, 6–11, 12–23, and 24 or more months to examine its association with individual agency. The non-members were assigned ‘0’ for the duration of the membership. Socio-demographic characteristics of adolescents were obtained based on single questions asked in the survey. Age was categorized into 15–19 and 20 or more years; caste into SC/ST, Other Backward Classes, and General; education into four categories–up to class 5, class 6–8, class 9–11, and class 12 or more. The variables of SHG membership of family members, receipt of vocational training, and exposure to mass media (either reads a newspaper or listen to the radio or watches television) were dichotomized into “Yes” and “No”. A proxy variable of the standard of living index (SLI) was computed to denote a household’s economic condition and was used in the analysis. The SLI computation was based on an additive index using four variables available in the dataset–the main source of drinking water, the main source of lighting for the household, the main fuel used for cooking in the household, and the type of house.