Inadequate preabortion counseling and decision conflict as predictors of subsequent relationship difficulties and psychological stress in men and women.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between perceptions of preabortion counseling adequacy and partner congruence in abortion decisions and two sets of outcome variables involving relationship problems and individual psychological stress. Data were collected through online surveys from 374 women who had a prior abortion and 198 men whose partners had experienced elective abortion. For women, perceptions of preabortion counseling inadequacy predicted relationship problems, symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal, and meeting full diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with controls for demographic and personal/situational variables used. For men, perceptions of inadequate counseling predicted relationship problems and symptoms of intrusion and avoidance with the same controls used. Incongruence in the decision to abort predicted intrusion and meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD among women with controls used, whereas for men, decision incongruence predicted intrusion, hyperarousal, meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD, and relationship problems. Findings suggest that both perceptions of inadequate preabortion counseling and incongruence in the abortion decision with one's partner are related to adverse personal and interpersonal outcomes.

A Thematic Analysis of Men's Experience With a Partner's Elective Abortion

“…These losses resulted in immediate, painful injury as well as a forfeiture of the future in the sense that the men were grieving all that could have been but was lost forever after the abortion. Whereas other studies have reported profound grief among men whose partners abort (e.g., Coyle & Rue, ; McAll &McAll, ; Poggenpoel & Myburgh, ; Speckhard & Rue, ), this study is the first to draw attention to the persistence of men's grief over time and strongly suggests that some men may need professional help in resolving their grief.…”

“…Rather, reports indicate that men tend to find the experience to be distressing, with a large majority of them describing abortion as a difficult experience that left them with lingering and disturbing thoughts (Shostak, , ; Shostak & McLouth, ). In studies of men whose partners underwent abortions, a number of adverse outcomes have been reported, including ambivalence (Kero & Lalos, , ), feelings of responsibility or culpability (Reich & Brindis, ; Rodrigues & Hoga, ), helplessness (Coyle & Rue, ; Hallden & Christensson, ), anxiety (Coyle & Rue, ; Schelotto, & Arcuri, ), posttraumatic stress reactions (Coyle, Coleman, & Rue, ; Lauzon, Roger‐Achim, Achim, & Boyer, ; Robson, ), anger (Naziri, ), guilt (Rothstein, ; Rue, ), and grief (Coyle & Rue, ; Speckhard & Rue, ). The grief may be experienced as disenfranchised grief (Coyle & Rue, ), complicated mourning (Speckhard & Rue, ), or depression (DuBois‐Bonnefond & Galle‐Tessonneau, ; McAll &McAll, ; Stern, ).…”

“…In studies of men whose partners underwent abortions, a number of adverse outcomes have been reported, including ambivalence (Kero & Lalos, , ), feelings of responsibility or culpability (Reich & Brindis, ; Rodrigues & Hoga, ), helplessness (Coyle & Rue, ; Hallden & Christensson, ), anxiety (Coyle & Rue, ; Schelotto, & Arcuri, ), posttraumatic stress reactions (Coyle, Coleman, & Rue, ; Lauzon, Roger‐Achim, Achim, & Boyer, ; Robson, ), anger (Naziri, ), guilt (Rothstein, ; Rue, ), and grief (Coyle & Rue, ; Speckhard & Rue, ). The grief may be experienced as disenfranchised grief (Coyle & Rue, ), complicated mourning (Speckhard & Rue, ), or depression (DuBois‐Bonnefond & Galle‐Tessonneau, ; McAll &McAll, ; Stern, ). Other adverse outcomes include emasculation (Holmes, ; Reich, ; Rue, ), sexual dysfunction (Berger, ; Rothstein, b), and relationship problems or relationship failure (Coleman, Rue, & Coyle, ; Coyle et al, ; Mattinson, ; Myburgh, Gmeiner, & van Wyk, ).…”

“…The grief may be experienced as disenfranchised grief (Coyle & Rue, ), complicated mourning (Speckhard & Rue, ), or depression (DuBois‐Bonnefond & Galle‐Tessonneau, ; McAll &McAll, ; Stern, ). Other adverse outcomes include emasculation (Holmes, ; Reich, ; Rue, ), sexual dysfunction (Berger, ; Rothstein, b), and relationship problems or relationship failure (Coleman, Rue, & Coyle, ; Coyle et al, ; Mattinson, ; Myburgh, Gmeiner, & van Wyk, ). Only one study (Kero, Lalos, & Wulff, ) reported that relief was observed among the male partners of women who aborted.…”

Childhood adversities and subsequent risk of one or multiple abortions

“…First, if childhood adversities are associated with having subsequent abortions, then programs that address the consequences of childhood adversities should include components on unintended pregnancy. Second, an increasing number of published papers claim that abortion harms women’s mental health (e.g., Coleman, 2011;Coleman, Coyle, Shuping, & Rue, 2009; Coyle, Coleman, & Rue, 2010). However, these papers usually do not take into account a wide range of early childhood adversities.…”