Coping with Abortion

Abstract

This study evaluated individual differences in coping style in response to an abortion procedure. The 55 subjects displayed a wide range of responses, although the average level of distress was fairly high. These women were quite similar to other stressed populations in their response to the Impact of Event Scale, providing evidence for a generalized stress response syndrome. When divided into groups based on coping style, “avoiders” were found to experience more distress that “nonavoiders,” and “approaches” decreased in distress over time while “nonapproachers” did not. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the interaction between coping styles and counseling strategies.

Index Terms:

• abortion
• coping styles