Depression, unwanted 1st pregnancy

BOULDER, Colo., Oct 27, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A study published online by the British Medical Journal questions the theory that terminating an unwanted first pregnancy raises risk of depression.

Nancy Felipe Russo, a University of Colorado-Boulder psychology professor, and Sarah Schmiege, a research associate at Arizona State University-Tempe, suggest abortion may be linked to a lower risk of depression through beneficial effects on education, income and family size.

The study involved 1,247 U.S. women who aborted or delivered an unwanted first pregnancy between 1970 and 1992.

Terminating compared with delivering an unwanted first pregnancy was not directly related to risk of depression. Instead, women who delivered before 1980 had a significantly higher risk of depression than all other groups.

The abortion group also had a significantly higher mean education and income and lower total family size, all of which were associated with a lower risk of depression.

Russo and Schmiege conclude there is no credible evidence terminating an unwanted first pregnancy puts women at higher risk of subsequent depression.

If the goal is to reduce women's risk for depression, they say research should focus on how to prevent and ameliorate the effect of unwanted childbearing, particularly for younger women.

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