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Author: Goddik, Steen
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Goddik, Steen
Unmarried Women Do Not Show Psychological Harm from Abortion: Letter in re: Depression and Unintended Pregnancy in Young Women
British Medical Journal 324,7345 (May 2002): 1097.
Also: http://www.bmj.com/content/324/7345/1097.full
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group, Ltd. - British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Keyword(s): Abortion; Depression (see also CESD); Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Psychological Effects

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Note: This is a critique of Reardon and Cougle article "Depression and Unintended Pregnancy in Young Women." See NLS Bibliography entry #3866 and #3941.

EDITOR--Reardon and Cougle start their paper by making unwarranted claims, which they attribute to an article by Major et al. (1, 2) That article in fact makes conclusions opposite to their own: Major et al state that the women experiencing psychological problems or regret after abortion are those with prior episodes of depression.(1) Reardon and Cougle turn this on its head, trying to make it look as though prior psychological state predicts depression associated with a pregnancy, whether aborted or carried to term. Major et al, of course, claim no such thing.

Reardon and Cougle's study finds that in unmarried women levels of depression do not differ between those who abort their pregnancy and those who carry it to term,(2) which seems to negate the push to limit access to abortion for teenagers. This might well be the most important finding in the study, as enormous effort is placed on limiting teenagers' access to abortion in the United States, where the Elliott Institute is based (www.cpcworld.org/hope-net/CPC/Elliott-Institute.html); this raises doubt about the authors' claim that they have no conflict of interest.

Certainly, this study shows that depression is not a factor in the issue of teenagers obtaining abortions. The authors seek to explain this away, but only with unsubstantiated speculations. If they have so little faith in their result why are they trying to present the study as a factual one?

(1) Major B, Cozzarelli C, Cooper ML, Zubek J, Richards C, Wilhite M, et al. Psychological responses of women after first-trimester abortion. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000; 57: 777-784[ISI][Medline].

(2) Reardon D, Cougle J. Depression and unintended pregnancy in the national longitudinal survey of youth: a cohort study. BMJ 2002; 324: 151-152.

Bibliography Citation
Goddik, Steen. "Unmarried Women Do Not Show Psychological Harm from Abortion: Letter in re: Depression and Unintended Pregnancy in Young Women." British Medical Journal 324,7345 (May 2002): 1097.
2. Kahn, Robert S.
Goddik, Steen
Billings, Deborah L.
Blanchard, Dallas A.
Reardon, David C.
Cougle, Jesse R.
Depression and Unintended Pregnancy in Young Women: Comments & Letters
British Medical Journal 324,7345 (May 2002): 1097.
Also: http://www.bmj.com/content/324/7345/1097.full
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group, Ltd. - British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Keyword(s): Abortion; Depression (see also CESD); Health, Mental/Psychological; Methods/Methodology; Pregnancy, Adolescent

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Comments on the D. C. Reardon and J. R. Cougle examination of depression and unintended pregnancy in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Billings discusses two methodological flaws in the analysis that undermine the conclusions stated. It is concluded that more rigorous analysis of the data is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about the link between depression and unintended pregnancy and marital status. (PsycINFO Database Record © 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Kahn, Robert S., Steen Goddik, Deborah L. Billings, Dallas A. Blanchard, David C. Reardon and Jesse R. Cougle. "Depression and Unintended Pregnancy in Young Women: Comments & Letters." British Medical Journal 324,7345 (May 2002): 1097.