Contraception
Volume 80, Issue 6 , Pages 500-503 , December 2009

Evaluating research on abortion and mental health

  • Julia R. Steinberg

      Affiliations

    • Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0744, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 415 476 6154; fax: +1 415 502 8479.
    • ,
  • Nancy Felipe Russo

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

Received 14 November 2008 ,Revised 15 May 2009 ,Accepted 2 June 2009.

References 

  1. American Psychological Association . Report of the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. http://www.apa.org/releases/abortion-report.pdf2008;[Accessed September 2008]
  2. Charles VE, Polis CB, Sridhara SK, Blum RW. Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: a systematic review of the evidence. Contraception. 2008;78:436–450
  3. Finer LB, Henshaw SK, Boden JM. Disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2006;38:90–96
  4. Jones RK, Darroch JE, Henshaw SK. Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000–2001. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2002;34(5):226–235
  5. Coleman PK, Coyle CT, Shuping M, Rue VM. Induced abortion and anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders: isolating the effects of abortion in the national comorbidity survey. J Psychia Res. 2009;43(8):770–776
  6. Fergusson DM, Horwood J, Boden JM. Abortion and mental health disorders: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study. Br J Psychiatry. 2008;193:444–451
  7. Steinberg JR, Russo NF. Abortion and anxiety: what's the relationship?. Soc Sci Med. 2008;67:238–252
  8. Schmiege SJ, Russo NF. Depression and unwanted first pregnancy: longitudinal cohort study. Brit Med J. 2005;331:1303–1308
  9. Cougle JR, Reardon DC, Coleman PK. Generalized anxiety following unintended pregnancies resolved through childbirth and abortion: a cohort study of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. J Anxiety Disord. 2005;19:137–142
  10. Coleman PK, Reardon DC, Rue VM, Cougle JR. State-funded abortions versus deliveries: a comparison of outpatient mental health claims over 4 years. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2002;72:141–152
  11. Reardon DC, Cougle JR, Rue VM, Shuping MW, Coleman PK, Ney PG. Psychiatric admissions of low-income women following abortion and childbirth. CMAJ. 2003;168:1253–1256
  12. Cougle JR, Reardon DC, Coleman PK. Depression associated with abortion and childbirth: a long-term analysis of the NLSY cohort. Med Sci Monitor. 2003;9:CR105–CR112
  13. Reardon DC, Cougle JR. Depression and unintended pregnancy in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: a cohort study. Br Med J. 2002;324:151–152
  14. Reardon DC, Ney PG, Scheuren F, Cougle JR, Coleman PK, Strahan TW. Death associated with pregnancy outcome: a record linkage study of low income women. South Med J. 2002;95:834–841
  15. Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S, et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51:8–19
  16. Dietz P, Spitz AM, Anda RE. Unintended pregnancy among adult women exposed to abuse or household dysfunction during their childhood. JAMA. 2000;282:1359–1364
  17. Roosa MW, Tien JY, Reinholtz C, Angelinia PJ. The relationship of childhood sexual abuse to teenage pregnancy. J Marriage Fam. 1997;59:119–130
  18. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders—Text revision. 4th ed.. 2000;Washington, DC; American Psychiatric Association
  19. Kessler RC, Magee WJ. Childhood family violence and adult recurrent depression. J Health Soc Behav. 1994;35:13–17
  20. Coker AL. Does physical intimate partner violence affect sexual health? A systematic review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2007;8(2):149–177
  21. Russo NF, Denious JE. Understanding the relationship of violence against women to unwanted pregnancy and its resolution. In:  Beckman L,  Harvey SM editor. The new civil war: the psychology, culture, and politics of abortion. Washington, DC: Am Psychol Assn; 1998;p. 211–234
  22. Springer KW, Sheridan J, Kuo D, Carnes M. Long-term physical and mental health consequences of childhood physical abuse: results from a population-based sample of men and women. Child Abuse Neglect. 2007;31:517–530
  23. Widom CS. Posttraumatic stress disorder in abused and neglected children grown up. Am J Psychiatry. 1999;156:1223–1229
  24. Macmillan HL, Fleming JE, Streiner D, et al. Childhood abuse and lifetime psychopathology in a community sample. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158:1878–1883
  25. Russo NF, Schmiege SJ. Debates about our design are beside the point: the Reardon and Cougle findings are invalid and cannot be reproduced with properly coded data. Br Med J. 2005;http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/331/7528/1303[Accessed November 2008]
  26. Russo NF, Schmiege SJ. Depression and unwanted first pregnancy: methodological issues, additional findings. Br Med J. 2006;http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/331/7528/1303[Accessed November 2008]
  27. Adler NE. Abortion and the null hypothesis. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000;57:785–786

PII: S0010-7824(09)00305-9

doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2009.06.003

Contraception
Volume 80, Issue 6 , Pages 500-503 , December 2009

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