Induced Abortion and Life Satisfaction in Germany: The Role of Selection Processes and Short-Term Effects

IF 0.8 4区社会学 Q3 SOCIOLOGY

Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie Pub Date : 2022-10-25 DOI:10.1515/zfsoz-2022-0022

Björn Huss, F. Kaiser

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Abstract

Abstract Unintended pregnancies resulting in induced abortion are occasionally associated with poor psychological well-being. In the literature, this is attributed to either (1) the consequences of abortion, (2) the consequences of unintended pregnancy, or (3) specific selection processes. This longitudinal study addresses these explanations based on data from the German family panel “pairfam” (n = 3,604 women). It compares changes in life satisfaction among different groups of women: Those who had an abortion, those who had a live birth, and those who were not pregnant. A matching procedure ensures the comparability of the groups. The results show that women reported temporarily lower life satisfaction immediately after abortion than similar women following live birth or in absence of pregnancy, while no significant group differences were found in the long run. However, abortion is preceded by significantly lower pre-event life satisfaction than live birth or absence of pregnancy. Persistent poor well-being should therefore primarily be considered a selection criterion for abortions resulting from unintended pregnancies rather than as their consequence.

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德国的人工流产和生活满意度:选择过程的作用和短期效应

意外怀孕导致人工流产有时与心理健康状况不佳有关。在文献中，这归因于(1)堕胎的后果，(2)意外怀孕的后果，或(3)特定的选择过程。这项纵向研究基于德国家庭小组“pairfam”(n = 3,604名妇女)的数据来解决这些解释。它比较了不同群体妇女生活满意度的变化:堕胎妇女、活产妇女和未怀孕妇女。匹配程序确保了组的可比性。结果显示，女性在堕胎后立即报告的生活满意度暂时低于活产或未怀孕的女性，但从长期来看，没有发现显著的群体差异。然而，堕胎前的生活满意度明显低于活产或未怀孕。因此，持续的健康状况不佳应主要被视为因意外怀孕而堕胎的选择标准，而不是其后果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie SOCIOLOGY-

CiteScore

1.30

自引率

12.50%

发文量

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