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

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.