Broen

Psychological Impact on Women of Miscarriage Versus Induced Abortion: A 2-Year follow-up study. Broen AN, Moum T, Bödtker AS, Ekeberg O. Psychosomatic Medicine, 2004, 66:265-271.

"The feeling relief (at T1) had no significant influence on the IES scores at T3, unadjusted or adjusted." (p 268) This supports an argument that researchers who place too much emphasis on measure of relief may be missing the full picture.

p270, "mental health before the event suprisingly had no significant independent influence on IES scores."

Reasons for induced abortion and their relation to women's emotional distress: a prospective, two-year follow-up study. Broen AN, Moum T, Bodtker AS, Ekeberg O. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2005, 27:36-43.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to identify the most important reasons for induced abortion and to examine their relationship to emotional distress at follow-up. METHODS: Eighty women were included in the study. The women were interviewed 10 days, 6 months (T2) and 2 years (T3) after they underwent an abortion. At all time points, the participants completed the Impact of Event Scale and a questionnaire about feelings connected to the abortion. RESULTS: Reasons related to education, job and finances were highly rated. Also, "a child should be wished for," "male partner does not favour having a child at the moment," "tired, worn out" and "have enough children" were important reasons. "Pressure from male partner" was listed as the 11th most important reason. When the reasons for abortion and background variables were included in multiple regression analyses, the strongest predictor of emotional distress at T2 and T3 was "pressure from male partner." CONCLUSION: Male pressure on women to have an induced abortion has a significant, negative influence on women's psychological responses in the 2 years following the event. Women who gave the reason "have enough children" for choosing abortion reported slightly better psychological outcomes at T3.

The course of mental health after miscarriage and induced abortion: a five-year follow-up study. Broen AN, Moum T, Bødtker AS, Ekeberg O. BMC Medicine 2005, 3:18 (12 December 2005)

Broen et al.'s results show that women who had a miscarriage suffer more mental distress up until six months after the event than women who had an abortion. Women who had an abortion, however, experienced more mental distress long after the event - two and five years afterwards - than women who had a miscarriage. Women who experienced induced abortion had significantly greater IES scores for avoidance and for the feelings of guilt, shame and relief than the miscarriage group at two and five years after the pregnancy termination (IES avoidance means: 3.2 vs 9.3 at T3, respectively, p < 0.001; 1.5 vs 8.3 at T4, respectively, p < 0.001). Compared with the general population, women who had undergone induced abortion had significantly higher HADS anxiety scores at all four interviews (p < 0.01 to p < 0.001), while women who had had a miscarriage had significantly higher anxiety scores only at T1 (p < 0.01).

Predictors of anxiety and depression following pregnancy termination: a longitudinal five-year follow-up study. Broen AN, Moum T, Bödtker AS, Ekeberg O. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2006;85(3):317-23.

BACKGROUND: The aims of the study were to assess anxiety and depression in women who had experienced either a miscarriage or an induced abortion, to compare the women's level of distress with that of a general population sample, and to find predictors of anxiety and depression six months and five years after the event. METHODS: A prospective, longitudinal follow-up study. Women who experienced miscarriage (n = 40) and induced abortion (n = 80) were interviewed ten days (T1), six months (T2), two years (T3), and five years (T4) after the event. On each occasion, they completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Life Events Scale. Paired-sample t-test, logistic regression, and multiple linear regression statistical tests were used. RESULTS: Women with miscarriage had significantly more anxiety and depression at T1 than the general population, while women with induced abortion had significantly more anxiety at all time points and more depression at T1 and T2. In both groups, important predictors of anxiety and depression at T2 and T4 were recent life events and poor former psychiatric health. Childbirth events between T1 and T4 had no significant influence on the scores. For women with induced abortion, doubt about the decision to abort was related to depression at T2 (p <0.05), while a negative attitude towards induced abortion was associated with anxiety at T2 (p <0.05) and T4 (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: Correlates of anxiety and depression may be used to better identify women who are at risk of negative psychological responses following pregnancy termination.