Abstract
Termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality (TOPFA) is a potentially traumatic event that may lead to intense grief symptomatology. The present study included 41 couples who were assessed 1–6 months after TOPFA. No gender differences were found regarding the intensity of trauma symptomatology or the prevalence of clinically relevant trauma symptomatology, present in about a third of the sample. Most couples were congruent regarding trauma symptomatology. Women experienced guilt with significantly more frequency than men. For both genders, guilt influenced both trauma and grief symptomatology. For women only, guilt influenced grief symptomatology indirectly, through trauma symptomatology. Clinical implications are discussed.
Acknowledgments
This study is part of the “Reproductive Decisions and Transition to Parenthood Following a Pre- or Postnatal Diagnosis of Fetal Abnormality” research project, integrated in the Relationships, Development & Health Research Group of the R&D Unit Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Vocational and Social Development of the University of Coimbra (Pest-OE/PSI/UI0192/2011). Bárbara Nazaré and Ana Fonseca are supported by PhD scholarships from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/43204/2008 and SFRH/BD/47053/2008, respectively).
Notes
+p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.