PMID- 19880932

OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DA - 20091102
DCOM- 20091216
IS - 1472-1465 (Electronic)
IS - 0007-1250 (Linking)
VI - 195
IP - 5
DP - 2009 Nov
TI - Reactions to abortion and subsequent mental health.
PG - 420-6
AB - BACKGROUND: There has been continued interest in the extent to which women
have
positive and negative reactions to abortion. AIMS: To document emotional
reactions to abortion, and to examine the links between reactions to abort
ion and
subsequent mental health outcomes. METHOD: Data were gathered on the pregn
ancy
and mental health history of a birth cohort of over 500 women studied to t
he age
of 30. RESULTS: Abortion was associated with high rates of both positive a
nd
negative emotional reactions; however, nearly 90% of respondents believed
that
the abortion was the right decision. Analyses showed that the number of ne
gative
responses to the abortion was associated with increased levels of subseque
nt
mental health disorders (P<0.05). Further analyses suggested that, after
adjustment for confounding, those having an abortion and reporting negativ
e
reactions had rates of mental health disorders that were approximately 1.4
-1.8
times higher than those not having an abortion. CONCLUSIONS: Abortion was
associated with both positive and negative emotional reactions. The extent
of
negative emotional reactions appeared to modify the links between abortion
and
subsequent mental health problems.
AD - Christchurch Health and Development Study, University of Otago, Christchur
ch
School of Medicine and Health Sciences, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zea
land.
dm.fergusson@otago.ac.nz
FAU - Fergusson, David M
AU - Fergusson DM
FAU - Horwood, L John
AU - Horwood LJ
FAU - Boden, Joseph M
AU - Boden JM
LA - eng
PT - Journal Article
PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL - England
TA - Br J Psychiatry
JT - The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
JID - 0342367
SB - IM
MH - Abortion, Induced/*psychology
MH - Adult
MH - *Attitude to Health
MH - Decision Making
MH - Emotions
MH - Female
MH - Humans
MH - Longitudinal Studies
MH - Mental Disorders/epidemiology/*etiology
MH - New Zealand/epidemiology
MH - Pregnancy
MH - Stress, Psychological/epidemiology/psychology
EDAT- 2009/11/03 06:00
MHDA- 2009/12/17 06:00
CRDT- 2009/11/03 06:00
AID - 195/5/420 [pii]
AID - 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.066068 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO - Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Nov;195(5):420-6.