Background: Nigeria still showcases unacceptably high under-five mortality despite all efforts to reduce the menace. Investigating
the significant predictors of this occurrence is paramount.
Objective: To examine the interplay between family setting, domestic violence and under-five death in Nigeria.
Methods: Cross-sectional secondary data, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, (NDHS) women dataset was
utilized. Subset of 26,997 ever married and ever had childbirth experience respondents were extracted from the nationally representative
women dataset. Dependent and Independent variables were recoded to suit the statistical analysis for the study.
Results: The study revealed that 33.7% of the respondents were in polygyny family setting; one-quarter of the ever married
women reported ever experiencing one form of domestic violence or the other. The results of the logistic regressions indicate
that family type and domestic violence were significant predictors of under-five children mortality in Nigeria.
Conclusion: The study concludes that women who belong to polygyny family setting and who ever experienced sexual domestic
violence are highly susceptible to experience under-five children mortality than their counterparts. The study recommends that
strategies and policies aimed at improving child survival should strengthen women empowerment initiatives, discourage multiple
wives and campaign against domestic violence in Nigeria.