Psychometric evaluation of the anxiety and depression condition in women with unwanted pregnancies immediately before interruptio.

This 1990 study of 51 women with unwanted pregnancies and planned terminations was designed to assess severe psychoemotional stress. It is hypothesized that a decreased in anxiety and accompanying depressive disturbances occurs after termination of the unwanted pregnancy. The anxiety is a function of the degree of unsatisfied needs and the extent of uncertainty to which one accepts that relief will occur when termination is accomplished painlessly by highly qualified specialists. Powerful stress factors of women with unwanted pregnancy are postulated as the disturbed intrapersonal relationship with the partner and the negative attitude of relatives to the pregnancy and eventual social compromise. Women in the sample were all in the 2nd-3rd month of pregnancy and assessment was made 2-3 hours prior to the scheduled termination. The mean age was 26.22 years +or-.82. Unmarried women were 60.78% +or-6.8.4. 72.55% +or-6.25 had a secondary school education. A control group consisted of 65 nonpregnant medical students in their 1st and 4th years of school. A comparison group was comprised of 39 women with pathological pregnancy. The psychometric measure used was Mashanovs 16-item test for anxiety and depression (TAD). Each system is evaluated by frequency degree of expression and intensity. Assessments are easily made due to brevity of the questionnaire and ease of data processing. Depression and anxiety are easy to recognize with daily patient contact. The results indicated that the averaged values of anxiety and depression in women with unwanted pregnancies is lower compared with nonpregnant women but statistically unreliable (t=.03 P>.05 and t=.98 P>.05 respectively). However there was a statistically significant difference in the degree of expression of anxiety between those women with pathological pregnancy and women with planned terminations (17.41 +or-1.61 and 11.96 +or-1.29 conditioned points t=2.65 P<.01 respectively) and degree of depression (6.36 +or-1.05 and 3.84 +or- .73 conditional points t=1.97 P.05 respectively). There were high degrees of anxiety and depression among women with pathological pregnancy. The results suggest that the positive emotional experiences connected to the opportunity for relief from the unwanted pregnancy neutralize significantly the anxieties and reservations about the termination as expressed in the low TAD values.