Risk Factors Identified by Pro-Choice Sources

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COMPLETE LIST OF RISK FACTORS IDENTIFIED IN THE 2008 APA TASK FORCE REPORT

(see pages 4, 11, and 92)

  1. terminating a pregnancy that is wanted or meaningful
  2. perceived pressure from others to terminate a pregnancy
  3. perceived opposition to the abortion from partners, family, and/or friends
  4. lack of perceived social support from others
  5. various personality traits (e.g., low self-esteem, a pessimistic outlook, low-perceived control over life)
  6. a history of mental health problems prior to the pregnancy
  7. feelings of stigma
  8. perceived need for secrecy
  9. exposure to antiabortion picketing
  10. use of avoidance and denial coping strategies
  11. Feelings of commitment to the pregnancy
  12. ambivalence about the abortion decision
  13. low perceived ability to cope with the abortion
  14. history of prior abortion
  15. late term abortion
  16. By parsing of the APA summary conclusion that "adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective first-trimester abortion than if they deliver that pregnancy," it also appears that the APA is identifying the following as risk factors
  • being an adolescent (not an adult)
  • having a non-elective (therapeutic or coerced) abortion
  • prior history of abortion (having a second or third abortion, or more)

COMPLETE LIST OF RISK FACTORS IDENTIFIED IN THE NAF's "A Clinician's Guide to Medical and Surgical Abortion"

Predisposing Factors for Negative Reactions

p29 - Table 3-2.

  1. Low self-efficacy: expecting depression, severe grief or guilt, and regret after the abortion
  2. Low self-esteem prior to the abortion
  3. An existing mental illness or disorder prior to the abortion
  4. Significant ambivalence about the decision
  5. Lack of emotional support and receiving criticism from significant people in their lives
  6. Perceived coercion to have the abortion
  7. Belief that a fetus is the same as a 4-year-old human and that abortion is murder
  8. Fetal abnormality or other medical indications for the abortion
  9. Usual coping style is repressing thoughts or denial
  10. Unresolved past losses and perceptions of abortion as a loss
  11. Experiencing social stigma and antiabortion demonstrators on the day of the abortion
  12. Commitment to the pregnancy
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