Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Abortion in a Former Soviet Union Country

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ABSTRACT: One hundred and fifty women who had abortions in Belarus (former Soviet republic) were interviewed regarding reproductive history, decision-making and psychological outcomes. Positive and negative responses (including PTSD, guilt, grief, depression, anxiety/panic and emotional numbness) were assessed during the interview with the Impact of Events-R Scale to objectively measure aspects of PTSD. It was hypothesized that a portion of the sample would evidence PTSD with recognition of life, attachment, time, number of weeks of pregnancy, coercion, supported decision-making, wantedness, and age all predictive of negative responses. Forty-six percent of the sample suffered PTSD the best predictors being recognition of the life of the fetus, attachment, time since the abortion, and number of weeks of pregnancy. INTRODUCTION Abortion in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and in Eastern Europe is extremely prevalent, even now utilized in many regions as a primary form of birth control. The

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