Emotional distress among couples involved in first-trimester induced abortions

OBJECTIVE To establish the prevalence of clinically significant psychologic al distress in women and men involved in first-trimester abortions and to i dentify related risk factors. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING A downtown Montreal public abortion clinic and the Montreal metropo litan area. PARTICIPANTS We recruited 197 women and 113 men involved in first-trimester abortions and compared them with control groups composed of 728 women and 630 men 15 to 35 years old who had taken part in a previous public health s urvey (Enquete Santi Quebec 1987). One hundred twenty-seven women and 69 me n completed the follow-up questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Level of distress as measured by the Ilfeld Psycholog ical Symptom Index. RESULTS Before the abortion, 56.9% of women and 39.69% of men were much mor e distressed than their respective controls. Three weeks after the abortion , 41.7% of women and 30.9% of men were still highly distressed. Predictors of distress for women were fear of negative effects on the relationship, un satisfactory relationships, relationships of less than 1 year, ambivalence about the decision to abort, not having a previous child, and suicidal idea tion (this association was weaker than in controls). Predictors. For men we re fear of negative effects on the relationship, relationships of less than 1 year, preoccupation with the abortion and anxiety about its accompanying pain, negative perceptions of their own health, suicidal gestures in the p ast, and suicidal ideation in the past year (only the association with suic idal gestures was marginally stronger than in controls). CONCLUSION Being involved in a first-trimester abortion can be highly distr essing for both women and men.