Violence in the Lives of Women Having Abortions: Implications for Practice and Public Policy

What do professional psychologists need to know to treat women who once had an abortion? Analyses of responses from 2,525 women revealed that women who reported an abortion were more likely than others to report symptoms of depression and lower life satisfaction. However, they were also more likely...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Professional psychology, research and practice research and practice, 2001-04, Vol.32 (2), p.142-150
Main Authors: Felipe Russo, Nancy, Denious, Jean E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Child Abuse
Female
Government Policy Making
Human
Induced Abortion
Intimate Partner Violence
Male
Mental Health
Pregnancy
Psychology
Public policy
Rape
Sexual Abuse
Victimization
Violence
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:What do professional psychologists need to know to treat women who once had an abortion? Analyses of responses from 2,525 women revealed that women who reported an abortion were more likely than others to report symptoms of depression and lower life satisfaction. However, they were also more likely to experience rape, childhood physical and sexual abuse, and a violent partner. When history of abuse, partner characteristics, and background variables were controlled, abortion was not related to poorer mental health. This underscores the need to explore the effects of violence in women's lives to avoid misattributing psychological distress to abortion experiences.
ISSN:0735-7028
1939-1323
DOI:10.1037/0735-7028.32.2.142