Depression among women after an unintended first pregnancy is linked to whether they abort or carry to term, conclude researchers from the United States, in this week’s BMJ.
Data from a national study of American youths, begun in 1979, was used to conduct the research. In 1992, a subset of 4,463 women were surveyed about depression and unintended pregnancy.
A total of 421 women had had their first abortion or first unintended delivery between 1980 and 1992. Among married women, those with a history of abortion were significantly more likely to be at high risk of clinical depression compared with those who delivered unintended pregnancies.
Among unmarried women, rates of high risk depression were similar, regardless of whether they aborted or carried to term. This may be due to the stress unmarried women may experience in raising a child without support or it may be related to this group’s higher rate of concealing past abortions, suggest the authors.
Compared with national averages, unmarried women in this study report only 30% of the expected abortions compared with married women, who report 74% of the expected abortions, which may make the results for married women more reliable, say the authors.
Since shame, secrecy, and thought suppression regarding an abortion are all associated with greater post-abortion depression, anxiety, and hostility, the high rate of concealing past abortions in this group (60% overall), means that these results may underrepresent the full effect of abortion on subsequent depression, they conclude.